Whether it’s material safety data sheets (MSDS), certificates of analysis (COA), standard operating procedures (SOP), or quality control/assurance (QC/QA) documents, every step in the manufacturing process is made more painful because of the challenges related to managing paper documents.
Common document management challenges in the manufacturing industry. From qualifying, on-boarding, and maintaining vendors to procuring raw materials to shipping product out the door and eventually tracing issues back through the supply chain, manufacturing firms offer a great example of how a document management solution embedded inside of Microsoft Dynamics can save time and money and ease the burden of government compliance requirements. Quality Control / Quality Assurance programs require documents to be physically present with inbound and outbound components, parts and ingredients, necessitating the continued use of printed documents. Failing to supply the proper documents at the right time and place can bring the entire supply chain to a halt. Receiving these documents in electronic form via email can add to the headache because, without a document management solution, the received email and/or its attachments must be forwarded to another individual for review or action, printed, or (in the most typical and inefficient case) kept in the original email inbox where others cannot easily access or manage the documents.
The combination of numerous interrelated Dynamics transactions and the inefficiency and inaccuracy of paper-based tracking of supply chain documentation often lead to failed audits, substantial legal liability. Document retention times can run into decades.
Ever growing government regulation only makes all of this that much more complicated and expensive for the manufacturing industry—whether you manufacture pharmaceuticals, food products, or steel girders. Addressing document management challenges improves the daily tasks of quality managers, and personnel, cost accountants, and purchasing managers.
The right document management solution can produce significant benefits for a wide range of personnel at a manufacturing company. For example, A quality manager can review production quality results and documents related to finished batches and those still in process. An R&D specialist can review documents related to previous production orders, including product specifications, certificates of analysis, and the MSDS related to specific raw materials. A cost accountant can review batch cost overruns by looking over physical batch tickets from the shop floor that reflect unusual circumstances, etc. A purchasing manager can review vendor performance by comparing COAs to item specifications, etc. Addressing document management challenges leads to better visibility, greater control, and higher profitability for manufacturers. In other words, the right document management solution can broaden the visibility of documents across the entire organization. Accelerate how quickly document visibility occurs improve legal and regulatory compliance by standardizing how documents are received and processed.
Increase profitability by enabling fewer people to process more transactions in less time and eliminating the hours of time each day that is wasted searching for documents. See it for yourself with this series of use case demonstrations focused on solving document management challenges in the manufacturing industry. We’ve put together a http://www.datahaven4dynamics.com/resources/datahaven-for-dynamics-nav-resources/recorded-demos/manufacturing-use-cases/ series of use case videos so you can see for yourself how Datahaven for Dynamics transforms Microsoft Dynamics from a partial ERP solution for manufacturers into a more complete ERP for manufacturers by delivering a fully-embedded document management solution for the unique needs of the manufacturing industry.