The ROI of Data Management

One of the challenges many of our customers face when trying to purchase a data management system is in calculating a return on investment (ROI) as required by company management. In all actuality, a data management system will produce an outstanding ROI for most organizations. The challenge can lie in knowing how to analyze your operations, gather the required data and perform the calculations.

This is an area where we at Hagerman & Company can help. We can talk with you to point you in the right direction and also have a ROI spreadsheet template we can provide that is ready built with formulas for you to plug your data into. Some of the areas in the spreadsheet where we have calculations and formulas built include:

Reducing document revision usage errors and their associated document and material scrap, rework and recall costs
Reducing time (and money) spent searching for documents either in the design department or elsewhere in the organization
Being able to more efficiently locate and re-use existing designs as the basis for new designs thus reducing design time and costs
Reduced operational downtime by reducing the time it takes to access maintenance or production documents
Reduced compliance costs and reduced risks of incurring the costs associated with non-compliance
Reduced errors caused by check in/check out and where-used issues
Reduced labor time required for generating required status reports and audit trails
Reduced labor and supply costs associated with distributing and updating paper-based documents. Also, reduced errors associated with failure to properly update and distribute paper-based documents.
Reduced time and errors associated with bill of materials entry. In many cases, data management projects automate and eliminate redundant data entry into multiple business systems
Reduced time tracking workflows/work status and reduced errors associated with employees not following company procedures
Improved ability of employees to continue working and accessing information while away from the office
Reduced time and errors associated with manually generating and updating PDFs or DWFs of design or other documents

Please let me know at mattlane@hagerman.com if you would like to receive a copy of this spreadsheet.

In other cases, a data management solution is simply a required technology for implementing other high-ROI productivity improvement or cost reduction programs such as:

Being able to communicate data, files, workflows and other information with remote or offshore company sites, customers, and partners
Efficiently utilizing design personnel across multiple company locations using either WAN or Internet technologies

In these cases, there is no need to calculate an ROI for the data management solution. Its price tag is just simply part of the costs used in calculating the ROI for the larger project. No matter the case, we agree that the purchase of a data management system should not come about without there being an adequate financial return for your company.