The right revision at every machine
An old revision still hangs by the machine, and the approval of the new one is buried in an email thread. M‑Files puts every drawing and procedure under document control: one current version, with the approval on record when the auditor asks for it.
- One current version
- Approvals on record
- Connected to your ERP
What document control means
Document control makes sure that only the current, approved revision of a drawing, procedure or work instruction is in use, and that every revision, approval and withdrawal can be traced. M‑Files does it with a lifecycle that each controlled document follows.
- Write — A new document, or a revision of one, is written as a new version of the same document. The author checks it out, so nobody else overwrites the work.
- Review — Reviewers get the review as a task with a deadline, assigned by name or taken from the document's metadata, and M‑Files reminds them before the deadline passes.
- Approve — The approval is a workflow state, recorded in the event log with the time and the user, and it can carry an electronic signature.
- Distribute — The approved revision is what people open, in the views for their role, and the workflow can widen access the moment it is approved.
- Withdraw — A superseded or withdrawn revision leaves the working views and stays in the version history, and a workflow can archive it.
- Only the current revision in view — Search and views show the current revision first, and M‑Files can run your own revision scheme, such as revision letters.
Document control vs document management
Document management keeps documents in one place, records what each one is and finds it again. Document control adds the rules a controlled document must follow. M‑Files is the document management system, and document control is the workflow, permissions and log set up on it.
| Feature | Document control | Document management |
|---|---|---|
| Purpose | Only the approved revision in use | Documents stored, found and shared |
| A change | Reviewed and approved before release | Saved as a new version |
| Who may change it | Named authors, with approvers set by the workflow | Anyone with edit rights |
| On record | Each approval, distribution and withdrawal | Each change and download |
Both run on the same M‑Files vault: the platform, described under document management on M‑Files, and the lifecycle, audit trail and integrations set up on it for a plant.
One current version in production
- Drawings and specifications — A drawing is filed once and found under its product, its supplier and its revision. Search shows the current version first, with the earlier ones in its history.
- Work instructions and procedures — Each one is reviewed and approved along a fixed route. In VisualQMS, people open the approved version from the activity they are working on and confirm that they have read it.
- Supplier documentation — Certificates, agreements and audit reports are filed under the supplier. Open the supplier and everything you hold on them is there.
- Quality records — Deviations, CAPA and audits are handled in VisualQMS and linked to the procedure they concern.
- Safety documentation — Risk assessments and other HSEQ documents are open to the people who should see them, and deleted by rule where a retention period applies.
- Connected to your ERP — We integrate M‑Files with your ERP system, so documents are filed under the same products and suppliers you already use there.
ISO 9001 evidence without the binder
VisualQMS shows the quality system as the processes people follow. Each activity leads to its controlled procedure, the training and the records behind it. Open an ISO 9001 requirement and you see what answers it. Certification itself comes from an accredited body.
How a new procedure reaches the shop floor
Your own approval process sets the steps and the people. Here is one example.
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Revise
Author
The author checks the procedure out and revises it as a new version of the same document.
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Review
Reviewer
The reviewer is told and gets the review as a task.
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Approve
Approver
The approval makes this the approved version, and M‑Files can change who has access at the same moment.
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In use
People open the approved version. The earlier ones stay in the version history.
The audit trail an auditor can read
The M‑Files event log is the audit trail. It records changes, downloads and deletions and every workflow state change with the time and the user, and an administrator can filter it and export it.
- Every change, download and deletion — Each change to a document or its metadata, each download and each deletion is an event with the time and the user. The log is filtered and exported for the auditor.
- Every approval with name and date — A workflow state change, such as approved, is an event in the same log, and it can carry an electronic signature with M‑Files' electronic signatures module.
- Who opened a document — With M‑Files' advanced logging module, the log also records each time a file is opened, for the documents where reading must be on record.
- Read and understood — VisualQMS's training management keeps the record of who has to know a procedure and who has confirmed that they have read it, so the confirmation sits next to the revision it concerns.
Works with your ERP and your Office files
Document control only works if filing a document is part of making it. M‑Files sits inside the programs people already use, and the systems that know your products and suppliers stay in charge of those lists.
ERP
Lists such as products, items and suppliers are kept in sync with your ERP, so a drawing is filed under the same item number your ERP knows. We do the integration work, API and scripting included.
Word, Excel and PowerPoint
Work instructions are written in Word and saved to M‑Files with their metadata. The document number, revision and approver can be inserted into the document itself and kept up to date.
Outlook
Supplier certificates and change requests that arrive by email are filed from Outlook under the supplier, and M‑Files can pick up the contact from the email.
Scanned paper
Signed inspection sheets and supplier certificates on paper are scanned, and M‑Files OCR turns them into searchable PDFs.
Network folders and SharePoint
Connectors show drawings that still sit on a network folder or in SharePoint Online inside M‑Files without moving them, so the migration can wait.
Electronic signature
With the DocuSign or Adobe Acrobat Sign integration and your own subscription to that service, signed documents return to M‑Files automatically.
Questions from quality and IT
How does M‑Files keep one current version?
How are drawings, procedures and supplier documents filed?
How are access and deletion set for safety documents?
How does VisualQMS connect documents to ISO 9001?
Which ERP systems can you integrate with?
How do people on the shop floor open documents?
What is the difference between document control and document management?
Who may change a work instruction?
Can approvals be signed electronically?
Does it run in the cloud or on our own servers?
Go deeper into quality and suppliers
Quality management
Controlled documents, training and quality records, with VisualQMS.
See quality managementSupplier management
Supplier documents and records, found through the supplier.
See supplier managementDocument management
Every document found by what it is about, with its versions and approvals.
See document managementWorkflow automation
How a workflow tells people, hands out tasks and changes who has access.
See how workflows runSecurity and the event log
Permissions, retention and the audit trail in M‑Files.
See security and loggingMicrosoft 365
Work instructions written in Word and saved with their metadata.
See M‑Files in Office