Document management systems go hand-in-hand with other types of systems depending on the type of business for which you are responsible. For the hotel business, document management systems may go hand-in-hand with digital accident & injury forms that cover the requirements of OSHA. For a manufacturing facility, document management systems may go hand-in-hand with electronic bill-of-materials controls, change controls and deviations controls.

For a law firm, document management systems should go hand-in-hand with HR/finance capabilities and accounting capabilities. For a medical device company a document management system may require "all of the above" plus electronic CAPA management capabilities.

It all depends on what your business is looking for...

Let's look again at a manufacturing facility. The facility needs--in addition to the systems mentioned above--electronic variance control. Without an electronic system that provides variance forms, and the ability to report on the data collected in those forms, manufacturing facilities move slowly through processes that are of the utmost importance....not only for profit but for reputation. Without manual variance controls, manufacturing facilities allow too many unfit products to slip through the cracks. These products alone can cost more money in the long run....but most manufacturing facilities find it difficult to become streamlined online.

Audit management is also a big issue for regulated and non-regulated industries. Audits allow not only for proof of compliance but also a road to improvement. Audit management however is best when the most recent audit data is collected, analyzed and acted on within a short time frame. This requires electronic audit management systems! Manual audit systems are absolute behemoths and are difficult to control. Many healthcare, blood and biologics organizations can greatly benefit from document management systems that go hand-in-hand with audit management systems.

Another consideration is for those companies that are dependent on suppliers. Suppliers can be beneficial but they also bring a high-level of liability to those businesses that rely on their products and/or services. The pharmaceutical industry and the medical device industry are both good cases-in-point. Both industries (especially the pharmaceutical) has experienced the unpleasant ramifications of faulty suppliers. These are the types of companies that need document management systems that flow in sync with electronic supplier management solutions and bill-of-materials solutions along with a host of additional aggregate systems.

These system aggregates may involve the management of any of the following:

Accident & Injury (OSHA requirements)

Audit Management

BOM (Bill of Materials) Management

CAPA

Change Control

Classes (training management)

Complaints Management

Copies (hard-copy management)

Deviations Management

Document Collections (allows documents to be managed in collections)

Document Management Systems

eMDR (electronic Medical Device Record Management for medical device companies)

Equipment Maintenance

Equipment Calibration

Event Analyzer

Exams

Guest Connect

HR/Finance

Incident Management

Meeting Notes

Nonconformance

Out-of-Specification Management

Process Management

Project Management

Risk

Risk Analysis

Supplier

Supplier Deviation

Training

Variance

These combined systems follow more of a Product Lifecycle Management model (as opposed to the lone document management systems model) but are perhaps even more flexible in their "format." System providers simply provide what their users need! This of course requires that system providers employ in-house experts from the industries that they support and that they optimize a solution for implementing user recommendations.