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Jul 27, 2020 Global Cents

The case for Document Automation in Utilities and Energy Industries

Get to market faster, better and error-free

Document automation tools provide opportunities for energy and utility companies to improve their document creation processes and get to market faster by automatically organizing and compiling complex documentation, like MRBs.

Solutions such as those offered by Global Cents are a game-changer for organizations, helping them improve their efficiency, get to market faster, and with fewer errors. Let’s take a look at how document automation can help companies in the energy and utility industry.

Accurate and cost-effective

Creating complex documents is a long and arduous process that requires hours of dedicated attention and effort. It is a tedious process that often results in human error and delayed delivery. Within the energy and utility industry, these documents are just a part of daily business and take up a lot of time and resources the company could spend elsewhere.

Document automation leaves less room for human error and effectively eliminates the risk of mistakes being made. Unlike workers, automation thrives on repetitive, routine tasks that are vital to your business operations. In this way, document automation takes the pressure off of your employees to do something better and more productive with their time, while ensuring no errors are made.

Document automation can also perform tasks faster than the most skilled employees and produces a more accurate and detailed final product. In addition to this, document automation saves time and money by foregoing any corrections that may take place with manual entry. Finally, it also provides the additional benefit of being far more cost-effective than spending human resources on such a time-intensive task.

Removes data silos

The larger a company grows, the more data it gathers over time. This data can be neglected or completely lost in data silos stored around an organization’s database. This effectively prevents you from getting the most out of your data.

Document automation and workflows help to reintegrate unused data into other core applications, getting all of your information to work for you. It also allows you and your organization to find and access data quickly, efficiently, and effectively rather than losing or damaging it.

Improves data consistency

Energy and utility companies deal with many third-parties to deliver on their products and services. These third-party companies often provide files and documents in vastly different formats that must be converted before creating complex documentation. These include CAD files, PDFs, Word Documents, Excel Spreadsheets, and more.

When dealing with a large variety of files, it helps to be able to convert those documents into a format that is easily accessible for users or intended readers. Many document automation solutions include the ability to convert those files to a form that is easily accessible internally and externally, keeping your data consistent and readable.

Swift creation, approval and review workflows

Submitting complex documents and staying compliant with the relevant authorities in the energy and utility sector requires certain documents and files to be signed off and approved. This usually involves a long and drawn-out review process only to find pages that have not been signed or approved. Regulatory authorities cannot accept such documents and end up rejecting the entire project, resulting in the applicant to start the process all over again.

With document automation, you can assemble documents as part of a controlled and structured process and never leave out a required document again. Solutions such as GCI PowerTools for Documents keeps track of what you need for a successful and complete compilation and allows you to edit and add content as needed.

Document automation solutions also highlight what needs to be added before you submit, allowing you to quickly add additional content to your documents that need updating before or after compiling. This saves you the time it would take to reprint, re-edit, and re-authorize.

Finally, if any signatures need to be added, you can digitally imprint them onto your documents to confirm review, authorization, or acceptance of individual sections or the entire complex document.

Automate organization

Energy and utility companies need sound document management processes to stay compliant and in business. Document automation solutions vastly improve this critical process and enable you to focus on other work, like gaining sales or improving customer satisfaction.  In every aspect, document automation can increase your productivity and make your complex documents more accurate, complete, and effective.

Further complicating the development of MRBs is that many companies have multiple, out-of-date content management systems, causing IT support challenges and resulting in higher operational costs. GCI with its implementation partner Alitek Solutions has helped companies streamline MRB delivery and build the necessary foundation needed to support and improve on this process.

Global Cents offers document automation through their GCI PowerTools suite that includes a complete document management solution, from collection to publishing. If you would like to upgrade your document management process, visit Global Cents’s website today, or contact us.

Published by Global Cents July 27, 2020