What is Engineering Document Management?

For Architecture, Engineering & Construction verticals and their process & project flows.

Engineers create drawings and documentation to convey the scope of work to all project stakeholders. After reviewing the scope provided by the customer, the engineering consultant creates concept design drawings.

An engineering project usually involves the civil, structural, piping, electrical, and mechanical disciplines, as well as other technical disciplines. The different disciplines produce their own drawings and designs, which have to be examined by the others to avoid any misunderstandings or conflicts.

A contractor then creates detailed shop drawings and requirements based on the drawings/designs, which are ultimately distributed to the construction team. Prior to construction, the majority of construction designs and documentation need to be approved. In order for a project to succeed, each drawing/document has an essential role.

There are many types of engineering documents:

• The specification refers to the design parameters and standards required by the client. EPC contractors use project specifications to prepare material submissions for procurement.
• Typical quality control documents include Requests for Information (RFIs), Change Orders and Inspection Reports.
• Emails, memos, minutes of meetings, and others should be archived and recorded for future reference.
• If there is a dispute in the future, documents such as progress photos must be preserved for future reference.

In the execution phase, drawing and documents must be managed properly and effectively. As a result, some type of document management system is crucial to engineering projects.

Why the need for document management for AEC Industry?

📌 Document Management Systems, or DMSs, can be used to manage drawings and documents in engineering projects.

📌 DMSs simplify communication between stakeholders in different locations by eliminating the need for travel or couriering of documents. Instead, vendors can upload documents to the DMS instead.

📌 Attrition is always there. This way, even if a single person isn’t present, all of the documents and correspondence are still available to you.

📌 DMSs securely store documents so they can be accessed anywhere and at any time by all stakeholders.

📌 Copyright and private information are protected when they are stored in a document management system (DMS).

📌 An effective DMS enhances transparency and accountability.

📌 Document Management Software may simplify the identification of documents with unique document numbers, version references, and other attributes, such as package numbers, areas, levels, and so on.

📌 Drawings and documents can be indexed using predefined qualities, making it easier to retrieve them in the future.

📌 DMS provides the ability to define Document Work processes. These begin with document generation and continue through review, approval, and use. To verify that the quality management process is being followed before the drawing/document is sent to the next stage, the role and resource responsible for each activity in the process can be identified.

📌 A document commenting feature, where comments are added to a document as it is reviewed, is an important feature of a DMS that facilitates efficient collaboration. The information about the comments is recorded in a comment resolution sheet. An audit trail of all comments can be kept in the system.

📌 As part of the DMS Access Control System, you can specify the purpose of each issue (approved, refused, approved with comments, etc.) as well as the approval state (approved, refused, approved with comments, etc.).

📌 You can submit standard documents to clients or receive documents from suppliers using standard document submission methods such as transmittal sheets. Using a transmittal sheet, all documents can be listed along with their issue purpose and age, so that documents can be approved or rejected within a certain time period.

📌 Document Management Systems can be used to control internal documents. As soon as a paper has been accepted, it is protected from unauthorised editing and revision. The only way to make changes is to obtain approval.

📌 The DMS can both keep track of documents and provide an audit trail. The previous version of a document, as well as all comments, are stored when it is revised and submitted. It is possible to save audit traces of previous revisions.

📌 Documents can be retrieved by authorized users by searching based on document attributes or document content, as is possible with a DMS.

📌 The correspondence management feature of a DMS is effective since all correspondence, such as RFIs and inspection requests, are recorded in the system with the entire thread of interaction.

📌 You can use QR codes to verify a document’s legitimacy in a document management system.

What is engineering document management?

With an engineering document management system, organizations can manage engineering project documentation, document security, file distribution, and collaboration across multiple file types.

An engineering document management system is an efficient way to locate, organize, and manage the complex engineering documents that exist in AEC firms, such as CAD files, drawings, designs, technical documents, and communication documents (Architecture, Engineering & Construction).

It is difficult to search and retrieve information from files created by AEC firms due to their number, size, and complexity. Security, retention, and workflow are frequently a concern of AEC firms.

Using Workflow and Document Management, you can create a safe repository by automatically identifying reference files, viewing them integrated, and adding annotations.

Because of the intuitive design, engineering teams can handle workflows and documents in real-time, eliminating bottlenecks in your company’s workflows. The version control system automatically updates project files when they are updated. Using digital signatures and audit trails will eliminate errors and prevent illegal activity.

Managing engineering documents effectively and efficiently facilitate cross-team collaboration. Using the Send/Submit capability, engineers can streamline paper transfers, while audit trails assist in keeping track of changes as they occur.

The Version Control service improves productivity in the AEC (Architecture, Engineering, and Construction) industry by automatically updating documents when they are revised. This ensures that viewers are always viewing the most recent version of the document.

What differentiates engineering document management?

The benefits of design collaboration include reducing rework, increasing productivity, and speeding up projects. Make design documentation into a strong, project-based record to collect and manage design files across all teams.

Design Team Coordination

Keep track of your design processes from start to finish to get a holistic view. Sharing curated packages with strong constraints will make it easy for you to manage how the project team consumes design data. Automated design and coordination workflows, end-to-end communication, and widespread responsibility are all enabled with a single source of truth. Connect with teams from anywhere in the world to share 3D files, shortcuts, and xrefs for civil infrastructure projects. Teams can securely share 3D files of plants

Design changes need to be visualized.

It is easy to visualize and contextualize design modifications by project phase, team, or building level. Ensure that shared design data is examined prior to adoption to determine if any new design knowledge can affect ongoing work. You can view changes in real-time, manage permissions, and keep your teams in sync.

Rich visualisations of the aggregated project model allow you to see how design changes affect the current state of the project. Prior to sharing the model, reduce rework and non-recoverable expenses.

Markup

In real-time, markups allow users to communicate questions, modifications, and other information about project drawings and models to facilitate decision-making. Measurement tools can be used by members of the project team to verify areas and dimensions.

By arranging project drawings and linking them to the rest of the project drawings and documents, document managers ensure that the entire set of construction documents is available to the team. Markup Callout can be used to quickly and efficiently comment or markup drawings.

The Document Management module allows you to open a 2D or 3D document. Using shapes and text fields, you can mark up the document. You can choose to view the markup as public (shared with everyone) or as private (visible only to you).

View all markups by selecting the markup icon. Select the file to attach to the markup.

Let’s Wrap up

The efficiency of engineering teams who use free or out-of-the-box document management systems is significantly impacted as well as change management, workflow processes, and document version control (to name a few things).

Money can be wasted, efficiency can be reduced, safety may be compromised, and there can be a skills gap when long-serving staff retire, taking their tribal knowledge with them, and new hires seek opportunities that offer more efficient and modern technology. Your company cannot be affected by this.

Make sure your EDMS (Engineering Document Management System) is designed specifically for your needs.

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