Moving a Paper Process Into Software

A paper process is moved into software by turning each form into an entry screen backed by a database. The screen checks entries as they are typed, fills in what the system already knows, and sends the record to the next person automatically. The paper form is the starting specification, and the routing that people now do by walking, faxing or scanning becomes workflow inside the application.

Signs this is your problem

• The same information is hand-written on several different forms.
• Forms come back incomplete or unreadable and have to be chased.
• Paperwork from the field arrives days after the work was done.
• Someone’s job includes typing paper forms into a spreadsheet.
• Approvals stall because a folder is sitting on someone’s desk.
• Finding an old record takes more than a minute.

What paper cannot do

• It cannot check itself. A paper form accepts a wrong part number, a missing signature or an impossible date without complaint.
• It cannot look anything up. The customer’s address is written out again on every form, a little differently each time.
• It cannot be in two places. While one person has the folder, everyone else waits.
• It cannot be searched. Finding last year’s record means a trip to the filing cabinet, or to off-site storage.
• It cannot report. Any count, total or trend means someone re-typing forms into a spreadsheet.

What the same process looks like in an application

The form opens on a phone, tablet or PC. Known details fill themselves in from the customer, job or part number. Required fields have to be completed, and values outside the allowed range are stopped at the door. When the form is saved, the next person in the chain is notified and sees it in their list.

Signatures, photos and attachments are stored with the record. Managers see where every item stands without asking. Reports that used to take a week of re-keying are available the moment the data is entered, and history going back years is one search away.

Start with the process that hurts most

Nobody has to convert the whole company at once. The best first project is usually one process with high volume, frequent errors or a slow approval chain: work orders, inspections, time and expense, quality records, purchase requests. It pays for attention quickly and shows your people what the rest could look like.

How Keene Systems handles it

1. We collect every form and follow one through the building. Who fills it in, who signs it, where it goes and where it gets stuck.
2. We design the data and the workflow. Often removing steps that existed only because paper needed them.
3. We build the screens in short cycles. Your staff try them on real work and tell us what to change.
4. We bring in the history you need. So the new system is useful on day one.

The next step is a short, no-pressure conversation. Book a call with Lance Keene or use the form on this page.