If you’re a process equipment supplier (manufacturer, fabricator, rep) who submits custom engineering documentation to your customers (EPCs) at the end of projects, how can you do this work better?
In our experience, there are a number of gaps that suppliers and EPCs tend to face regarding the issue of project documentation and therefore a number of areas of improvement that you can focus on to make the work easier and less painful.
Here are some suggestions:
Create/improve internal document control procedures
Formalize document control procedures if you don’t have them or improve the ones you have. Take what you get from your EPC(s) and make it your own just like you would with any other internal procedure. Consult a document controller(s) with experience working with EPCs to run your findings past them for verification. One major benefit of DocBoss is how it adds structure to your document control work without you having to do it on your own.
Review customer-supplied documents at proposal stage
Don’t wait until a project has started to have your technical staff review vendor document requirements (VDR) or other customer-supplied documents. Have your questions answered and understand the requirements before the project has started.
Bill for documentation work
When appropriate, you can bill for documentation work and account for the time and effort you expend doing the work. While most suppliers don’t bill for the work, many EPCs expect that they will.
We learned about this gap in a recent survey we conducted that shed light on this and many other aspects of documentation that show how suppliers and EPCs don’t align properly. In fact, this survey – entitled Supplier vs EPC, Why is Vendor Documentation so Painful? – sheds light on a number of issues that each side has with the other that can help you do your documentation work better.
If you haven’t yet downloaded the full 12 page report at no charge, click here to get it now to read the entire report including more detailed suggestions such as the ones mentioned above.