EDMS software is an engineering document management software system designed to help companies control the volumes of critical documents and related processes required when running large capital projects or operating/maintaining capital assets, particularly when the asset being constructed or operated includes complex engineered solutions (e.g. energy, mining, and infrastructure projects).
In this post, we discuss the difference between a generic Document Management System (DMS) and an Engineering Document Management System (EDMS), and describe how an EDMS reduces project risk for organizations.
What is EDMS Software?
EDMS software stands for 'engineering document management system’ and defines a unique type of document management system (DMS) that provides additional capabilities designed to help organizations effectively control engineering drawings, documents, and data, as well as the collaborative processes related to creating and distributing these documents. EDMS software is essential to managing risk on capital projects where teams are designing, building, and operating large industrial assets that incorporate complex engineering solutions.
The reputable institution AIIM (Association for Intelligent Information Management), defines Document Management as how an organization stores, manages, and tracks its electronic documents. A DMS provides the most basic functionality to content management, imposing controls and management capabilities onto otherwise “dumb” documents.[1]
This strikes a contrast with how professionals in large industrial construction projects or asset operations refer to ‘Engineering Document Management’ as a practice to manage complexities associated with engineering documents.
EDMS Software or DMS?
Does this scenario sound familiar? Your client shared the risk assessment from their latest major project, pointing the finger directly at delayed delivery of engineering documents. This gets the attention of your management team, and leads to a familiar discussion in the boardroom:
Management: “We need to improve how we manage and deliver engineering documents for our clients.”
IT professionals: “No problem, we have a Document Management System.”
Project professionals: "A generic DMS will not meet our needs, we need EDMS software and let me explain why that is."
How EDMS Software Avoids and Mitigates Risk
EDMS software is designed to help manage information-related risk on capital projects through purpose-built tools and capabilities. Engineering documents are unique and require special controls that ensure quality and timely delivery. EDMS software also increases client and project satisfaction through features such as flexible numbering, revision control, and metadata validation. EDMS software provides practitioners with access to risk analysis by tracking actual delivery data versus plan. With inter-disciplinary review workflows and engineering markup tools, engineering quality and processing efficiency increase while transmittals and audit history bolster defense against claims and settlements. EDMS software can also be integrated with other engineering systems to further improve efficiency and quality of engineering documents and processes
The following table further illustrates how EDMS software helps to control risks related to information on heavy-industry projects compared to the capabilities of a generic DMS.
EDMS Software vs. DMS: Mitigating Risk Associated with Engineering Documents
Here are the common risks identified in engineering projects, how you can mitigate them with EDMS software, and how a generic DMS falls short.
|
Risk |
Impact |
Mitigation |
Software Requirements |
DMS |
EDMS |
|
Use of incorrect revisions |
High: construction rework, safety incidents from installation error, cost growth from change orders |
Avoid copies of files in multiple places, such as file systems, emails, cloud drives, SharePoint |
|
Partial |
Full |
|
Non-compliance to client standards |
High: breach of contract, delayed or partial payment |
Configure specific client information standards for systematic validation and guaranteed compliance |
|
Minimal |
Yes |
|
Late or incorrect deliverables |
High: project schedule delay |
Define plan with contract terms for scope and schedule, calculate progress based on actual delivery, compare plan to actual delivery, identify and analyze trends. |
|
Minimal |
Yes |
|
Extraordinary claims and settlements |
High: cost growth |
Establish detailed historical database for defence against litigation. |
|
Partial |
Yes |
EDMS Software Supports the Practice of Document Control
Document Control is a well-established practice in engineering projects. Consepsys, a training and consultancy firm with many references in the industry, defines Document Control as a document management profession whose purpose is to enforce controlled processes and practices for the creation, review, modification, issuance, distribution, and accessibility of documents. The role ensures that documentation available at official points of use within an organization is trusted by its users and contains up-to-date, reliable, checked, and formally approved information. [2]
Here is a basic illustration of the document control process.
Figure 1: Document Control Process in Proarc EDMS
The activities to the right of the dotted line represent document control, a cyclical process that executes thousands of times in an engineering project. The cycle demands efficiency and quality in equal measure to support the massive amount of project information exchanged between suppliers and project team. An EDMS supports each of the activities to these demanding standards, whereas a DMS does not.
Proarc EDMS Software - Powered by Ascertra
Originally developed for highly regulated offshore oil and gas infrastructure projects in the North Sea, Proarc EDMS software is proven to meet the demanding requirements for a wide range of industries. Proarc EDMS software has been used around the globe for more than 30 years by customers large and small to manage volumes of complex engineering documents across projects and operations.
As an organization, Ascertra (developers of Proarc EDMS software) provides nearly 40 years of combined expertise in successfully helping companies execute projects and operations through software that drives sound information management practices. One of Ascertra’s largest clients provides highly engineered, safe, well-executed, capital-efficient projects to clients around the world. They average 15,000 users per month across nearly 20 countries to support their document control and project information management practices across hundreds of projects within multiple industries, including oil and gas, infrastructure, and major city build projects. The team perform several thousands of document transactions per month via workflow reviews and outbound transmittals. In addition to managing information, the Ascertra solution provides related project intelligence that helps their teams manage related project risk.
EDMS Software - The Right Tool for Engineering Documents
"Make sure that you always have the right tools for the job. It's no use trying to eat a steak with a teaspoon, and a straw."
-Anthony T. Hincks
Although many companies have attempted to implement a generic DMS to support document control across their capital projects and into operations & maintenance, they ended up wasting precious time and realized these generic tools cannot meet their needs. For companies running large capital projects or operating/maintaining capital assets, particularly when the asset being constructed or operated includes complex engineered solutions (e.g. energy, mining, and infrastructure projects), a generic DMS will not work and EDMS software is a ‘need to have’ tool. Make sure you have the right tool to manage risk and that tool in this case is EDMS software.
Learn More
- If you’re looking for more DMS vs. EDMS information, read why our customers choose Proarc EDMS over SharePoint for document control.
- Visit our Proarc EDMS for Document Control product page to learn more about our industry-leading EDMS software.
- To see Proarc EDMS in action, check out our brief demo video that highlights how Proarc EDMS makes document control easier for Engineers.
If you have any questions about the information in this article or would like to speak with our project information management experts, contact us now.
[1] AIIM Intelligent Information Management Glossary
[2] https://www.consepsys.com/2015/05/20/what-is-document-control/
[Updated July 2024]
