Document Management - White Paper (ID 5277).pdf Jul. 2014 | Page 28

Publishing
Fläkt Woods
European manufacturer shares project files through online portal
Jouni Akras is design manager at one of the world’s largest manufacturers, Fläkt Woods,
which makes massive air circulation systems for industrial use. His team of engineers was
the second department within the organization to implement
M-Files electronic document management solution.
Although the focus of Akras’ department is design, the
document control measures were applied universally, not just
to CAD files.
“Of course we produce a lot of 3D CAD files, but we also
generate a lot of other files, typically Word, Excel, graphics,
and so on. M-Files tracks and organizes all of our documents.
We wanted a comprehensive solution for product designs and
all other support documentation.”
Another motivation for adopting M-Files was its dual function as a publishing system.
“Up to now, we had been using multiple methods to share our files with our customers
and suppliers via email, FTP sites, mailing copies of the documents they need, and so on,”
explains Akras. “Now we can just give them a login to a new website to access to the files
remotely.”
M-Files technicians helped Fläkt Woods configure the system for its external file-sharing
portal, which can be accessed from any web browser. As with an on-premise document
management system, easy permission controls allow outside parties to access entire
categories of relevant documents, while still maintaining internal data integrity, security, and
organization.
“We saw the potential to leverage M-Files in many ways,” says Akras. “The publishing
system was one of most important.”

the office.

Workflow Design
Workflow design is a management tool that eliminates bottlenecks,
maintains consistency and quality in documentation, and assures
employees do not accidently skip a step in important procedures.
Once companies index their files in a DMS, they can start to add
dynamic controls to manage and optimize recurring business
processes. The system can automatically route documents to
different individuals at different times, fill in forms, calculate due
dates, send email notifications, and post calendar reminders.
DMS workflow features should include offer easy-to-customize
EASY DOCUMENT MANAGEMENT

automation that can move, copy, and delete documents, as well
as populate templates with database contents. And just as
metadata identifies documents by purpose and content, it
can additionally indicate the completion status and position
of the item inside a workflow cycle. Look for Open Database
Connectivity (ODBC)-compliant systems that feed DMS data to
and from other applications and provide the ability to record and
modify workflow conditions.
Workflow tools operate well in tandem with history logs and
audit capabilities to give managers a tool for comparing
performance with previous work cycles and holding all
participants accountable for work quality.

- 28 -