Should you keep paper and electronic shipment records side by side?
During a document digitization project, how would you avoid having two versions that both look authoritative?
All questionsShipments
6 replies
- Decide which record is authoritative for each purpose and make that visible. A scan, an electronic original and a working copy are not automatically interchangeable.
- Keep the legal and counterparty requirements in the decision. The operational preference for digital files doesn't settle the status of a transport document.
- Use clear labels for superseded or reference copies. People shouldn't have to infer validity from which attachment arrived last.
- Agree on the change process before migrating active shipments. If a document is amended, everyone needs to know where the new authoritative version will appear.
- A pilot on completed records can help test search and access, but it won't prove the live transfer or release process. Test those separately with the relevant parties.
- Include retention and retrieval in the design. The file needs to be understandable months later, not only convenient on the day it is uploaded.
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