Daiken New Zealand is an established organisation dedicated to providing the highest quality Medium Density Fibreboard (MDF) from our forests to the world. They pride themselves in meeting technological, process and engineering challenges, and have worked extensively to ensure their plant is finely-tuned to get the best out of technology that allows them to manufacture with effectiveness and efficiency.
Paul Schulz, IT Manager at Daiken New Zealand, came to Sharp with a problem we encounter all too often—the company was struggling with their document management system that provided a user experience so frustrating, staff went to great lengths to avoid using it.
Staff were haphazardly storing files all over network drives and USBs, limiting searchability, accessibility and document control. It was difficult to identify a single source of truth, and without version control or trackable workflows, the team struggled to make sense of the jumbled mess their company information found itself in.
Enter M-Files - a welcome alternative to the enterprise document management system previously employed by Daiken New Zealand. It provided all the key features Paul Schulz and his team were looking for - one single source of truth, stringent version control, actionable workflows, searchability and mobility. Most importantly, M-Files was easy to engage with.
"At the outset, we had to work very hard to show that it was worth the time and effort to install M-Files," says Paul Schulz. "However, once users began to understand what M-Files could do for them, it became self-perpetuating. People wanted to use it."
And so began the seamless onboarding process, where Daiken New Zealand decided to proceed with a manual migration of information from the old system onto M-Files to ensure information was clean and orderly. A year on from onboarding and using M-Files in production, their business has found itself for the first time with strong governance around version control, approvals/sign off processes, as well as seamless integration with third-party and in-house production systems.
Information is easy to find, no matter where it is being accessed from, and all the business’s important data is now stored on M-Files. During the recent COVID lockdowns, staff could still access all relevant company information across all devices—anywhere, and at any time. There was no need for VPNs or jumping through access gateway hoops. This type of mobility is something that Daiken New Zealand sought for its business for a very long time.
Finally, Daiken New Zealand can manage their data with the same level of precision and effectiveness they dedicate to their manufacturing processes.
“Sharp has demonstrated significant innovation and the ability to think outside the box,” says Paul. “Some opportunities we could only dream about in the past are now a reality due to this. Sharp’s understanding of the criticality of properly storing a significant amount of data and the importance of a quick search and retrieval truly streamlined the implementation.”
To find out how you can take control of your company’s information management, speak to us about M-Files today.
