CEMDC - Construction Engineering Management Document Control
Performing routine mundane tasks accurately and quickly. Recording What, When, Who, Why

How to Capture Information

Ways of doing it
There are always many ways to do anything....
  • Paper
    • Mostly very reliable
    • ALWAYS easy to use
    • Easy to replicate
    • Mostly easy to file (index)
    • Mostly easy to find
  • Electronic
    • May need an IT department
    • May need dedicated servers for storage of large volumes of images
    • Cannot handle paper "as is".
    • Easy to "lose" documents which are improperly "profiled"
  • Mixed
    • The ultimate solution ???
    • Keep electronic documents electronic as long as the process being performed does NOT need paper, then move to paper.
    • Scanning paper back to an electronic format is only suitable (after KOFAX) when:
      • the paper is in perfect condition,
      • the paper is of a uniform type and size.
Types of Software Solution
  • Many people just use the document management facilities built into the windows operating system
    • Access to both directories and documents can be easily controlled
    • Names of documents can be made adequately descriptive
    • Documents can be listed by searching for included text content
  • EDM Systems do not peform clerical tasks, and
    • Require a "profile" to be completed when a document is created or received.
    • Do not have the searching and indexing facilities needed for complex projects
  • CAD Systems require to be managed, and this is done by specialised EDM systems which
    • Have special capabilities to handle revisions of documents
      • First is the ability to maintain the Title Block from a database
      • Second is the ability to manage access to revisions - once "issued" a revison becomes locked
    • Build a profile from data specifically entered for title block etc
    • Manage the allocation of work to the individuals in the drawing office
    • Can be misused to generate unnecessary documents better held in a database
    • Have Workflow which can be misused to generate transmittal notes
  • Portals are essentially a "shared system" which
    • Enable Data to be shared - although access to documents and rights to processes can be controlled
    • Have no-one with overall responsible for data integrity.
    • Require double entry of data
      • Outward
        • Entered on one's own CEMDC or EDM(CAD) system
        • Entered separately on the Portal
      • Inward
      • Downloaded from the portal and
      • Entered onto ones' own CEMDC system
  • CEMDC applications on the other hand:
    • Perform the basic necessary EDM functions, and
      • use the operating system for viewing electronic documents
      • allow storage of documents in a structured repository
    • Generate general documents from information within its database, can keep a "hard" copy (pdf or paper)
    • Handle paper and electronic technical documents in an identical fashion
    • Do the clerical work - in the same manner as an accounting system
    • Use the main features of the internet
      • Generates emails directly or passes to an email system
      • Reads emails directly or retrieves from an email system
      • Can FTP / HTTP documents UP to and DOWN from a server
    • Uses EDI to reduce double entry whilst retaining incoming data validation.
    • Can be seamlessly linked to an EDM(CAD) system
Points to Note
  • Document Controllers can use paper or paperless systems.
  • Software means that information within can be shared by others.

Why CEMDC

White Papers

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