In 2015, Experian, a leading global information services company, released the Data Breach Industry Forecast. This expansive and in-depth report addressed the growing crisis in data security and forecasts ever greater threats to the security of companies worldwide in the coming years.
Fortunately, there are incredibly effective and powerfully simple tools available that can minimize paperwork and its associated costs and allow you to get back to doing what you do best. In this article, we’ll address some of the issues facing contractors today and how implementing a document management system can alleviate them. But first, what is a document management system?
The Power of DMS
A document management system (DMS) is a digital software system that allows you to scan documents, archive them digitally or even in the cloud, and access them from anywhere you might need them instantaneously. The most effective DMSs include high-level encryption, multiple backups for added security, and fully-searchable text for any scanned documents that make document search and retrieval effortless.
Now that you’ve been introduced to the power of a DMS, let’s address some of the issues one can help contractors tackle on a daily basis.
Increasing Costs
Increases in labor costs can quickly lead to project budgets stretching past their breaking point if not handled correctly. Using a DMS can allow you to become vastly more organized in handling budgets, payments, and employees from project to project so that you’re never caught off guard by costs as time goes on. Going paperless can be a powerful way to take control of your projects’ budgets.
Compliance
If there’s one thing you can count on to derail a project, it’s regulatory red tape. Thankfully, utilizing a DMS will make compliance easier than ever before. Call upon permits and regulatory documents instantly, and keep all practices and regulations on-hand in an organized database. Plus, you’ll never have to worry about holding on to documents that might become important months or even years down the road while confronting overflowing filing cabinets. When everything’s digital, more documents doesn’t mean more storage or more cash out of your pocket.
Managing Materials and Labor
Managing a project requires the ability to successfully oversee multiple permits, orders, workers, and transactions over the course of the job. A DMS will allow you to keep detailed and organized records of material needs and current supplies, labor demands and availability, and other critical information about the project from start to completion.
Contracting schedules can also be extremely unpredictable. Manage changing circumstances due to weather or other delays by instantly and seamlessly sharing information from one worker to the next so that everyone knows the game plan at all times.
Facing the Unexpected
Contracting work is never an exact science. Supplies don’t arrive when they’re supposed to, plans change, new demands are made that contradict the originals. Relying on inflexible and limiting paper documents to handle a modern and fast-moving project is simply no longer viable. Just as individuals rarely need to walk into a physical bank to access their money anymore, you shouldn’t have to deal in paper documents on a daily basis to get things done.
Managing Safety and Company Policies
Safety and compliance with your contracting business’s various rules is critical to ensure that your contracting jobs run smoothly, your workers are safe, and that you’re not subject to injury-related liability. A DMS will make all of your health and safety documentation instantly available to whomever you grant access. That way, documents can be brought up on-site and referenced to ensure compliance and accountability.
Contracting is a business that’s all about adapting to constantly changing circumstances and persevering to get the job done right and on-time. Don’t let an unwillingness to take one simple step into the modern age stand in the way of your success. Consider going paperless and adopting a powerful DMS today. You’ll be amazed by the increased organization, decreased costs, and overall improvement in efficiency that results in freeing yourself from the stacks of paper that weigh your business down.
To find out more about how a document management system can transform your contracting business, fill out the form on this page for a free 15-minute demo of eFileCabinet’s cutting-edge software.