ICP Firefly
Australian contract research laboratory, ICP Firefly, has increased its workload and eased the burden of report writing with the use of DocMoto.
Using Apple Mac computers since launch in 1995, the company - based in Alexandria, New South Wales - found that its processes with heavy documentation demands were becoming difficult to manage in the Mac environment.
Edmund Ho
QA/Compliance manager
Edmund Ho, QA/Compliance manager at ICP Firefly, said: “Macs are good out of the box for look, feel and usability; but when we reached a certain level of documentation and the need for access by multiple people it became increasingly difficult”.
“It’s my role to oversee the documentation in both hard copy and electronic form and to ensure that it’s up to date and can be networked at all times. With documentation getting unwieldy, and the problem of trying to integrate Macs with PC-based file server solutions, we needed something else”.
“Now, we run all our documentation needs through DocMoto”.
DocMoto at work in ICP Firefly
Standard operating procedures cover all workplace activities at ICP Firefly. So, it’s essential that staff can access the latest version of any document without risking the integrity of the file.
Within DocMoto, the documents are subject to automatic revision control and security requiring permissions, which means the information is both secure and up-to-date.
But it’s in managing reporting documentation that the software is having the most impact for the organisation:
Edmund added: “When writing up our scientific reports we are now able to use document templates created by DocMoto at the touch of a button, which is a real time-saver”.
“Also, as we employ some part time staff they are able to access files, make their contribution to the document and then someone else can take over in their absence, knowing that every document change is trackable and traceable”.
“This is where DocMoto’s version control is also important: we can be working on reports and version control lets us see what other scientists have added, see what’s current and reverse it if necessary. Previously, duplicate versions of the same report could be generated, bringing with it a host of different naming conventions and modified dates and a lot of re-work was involved to reconcile the final version”.
“Now, we’ve got the added confidence that what we’re working with is the latest revision and this has helped communication around the workplace”.
Favourite DocMoto features for ICP Firefly
“As we gained confidence in the DocMoto system we now use it to manage all our documentation, we have reached a point where people can’t live without it,” Edmund said.
His favourite features within DocMoto include:
- Control - “It’s like there’s someone else doing the job of version control and it takes the onus off a human operator and gives it to the machine to handle, without fuss. I used to spend days chasing documents and it’s difficult, especially when you come back into a project”.
- Document Tags - “These give us the ability to create tags and different folders. The document search capability is more logical and powerful than the in-built Mac search function: we can drill down to so many levels, which is especially useful with thousands of documents”.
“DocMoto feels like a native Mac environment, which means there’s no need to learn a new operating system. It has become the first application opened in the morning along with email which, incidentally, is also trackable within the software - meaning that we can go to one place for all vital workplace email communications”.
“The software has been the easiest roll-out of anything I’ve ever done. We trained some people in the organisation and it was just a matter of populating the application with critical folders. After that I don’t think anyone noticed the change as it was as intuitive as using an Apple application”.
Helping ICP Firefly’s own good laboratory practice
Overall, deploying DocMoto has created a much more efficient way for ICP Firefly to manage and document the mechanics of what the organisation does.
Edmund says: “DocMoto has helped to streamline the organisation and the benefits have been greater than we anticipated”.
“Reporting is a challenge, but now template systems are a real winner and we have been able to shorten our turnaround times”.
“And it has assisted our move to electronic file formats, which means that our pen and paper information systems are being phased out painlessly. With the requirement to show an audit trail of data, this used to involve keeping folders on a shelf!”
Business building benefits of DocMoto
An analysis since implementing DocMoto show that organisational workflow has increased and allowed ICP Firefly to take on a level of work that hadn’t been possible in the previous five years.