Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery

Here’s a topic that is too broad and deep for our humble newsletter to do justice to, but after last’s week’s discussion electronic document storage, it makes sense to touch on some points specific to our industry. For a component manufacturer, the three most likely scenarios are:

1. Something happens to the CEO / leadership

2. The plant is destroyed

3. The computer system is destroyed

The Basics

Answering these questions may help see how ready you are for the first hours after a disaster:

1. How will employees learn what they are to do?

2. How will customers and others communicate with the company?

3. How will financial activities (invoices created, bills sent, and money coming in) continue?

The Boss

The solution is summed up in that little phrase ‘Succession Plan,’ and we all need one. The term “succession” conjures up dark images, but what about if someone is just going to be out for a few weeks? Many operations run so lean that many managers and even administrators perform tasks every day that are critical to the operation of the company. Perhaps a Succession / Contingency Plan is in order for each one of those people. If people know that we’ve planned for ‘worst case’ scenarios, they are going to feel better and more secure on their jobs. If we have been meaning to cross-train - for example if only one person knows how to un-jam the copier - perhaps a contingency plan is a good excuse to turn talk into action.

The Plant

Having a plan is again the key. The immediate problem will be filling orders. Having good relationships within the industry is crucial at a moment like this. The ideal scenario would be to package up the work you have in progress, and send it off to a “friend” to fabricate for you. Now would be a good time to make those friends, if you have not already done so. Your plate supplier is going to be an asset and be willing to work hard on your behalf – involve your sales rep right from the start.

The Computer System

You may be able to recover very quickly from this type of disaster if you have a plan and are prepared. The essentials are:

1. Off-site back-up of business data (be it databases, spreadsheets, whatever)

2. Off-site current defaults from your design software

3. Off-site copies of the software installation discs

4. Plan in place to purchase new computers within minutes of the store opening, including hardware specs for those computers

4. Phone numbers for software support

Having a well-understood plan for BC/DR sends a powerful message to employees that the company intends to carry on, no matter what challenges it faces. You’re saying, “We intend to make this ship as unsinkable as possible,” and that is the kind of ship most employees want to be riding on.

For more information, two sites worth checking out are: http://www.disaster-recovery-guide.com/start.htm and http://www.csoonline.com/article/204450/Business_Continuity_and_Disaster_Recovery_Planning_The_Basics

Electronic Document Management System

A few years ago I was visiting a large truss plant in California and I remember being taken through a large room that was stacked to the ceiling with cardboard boxes. I mean this was a BIG ROOM - like a warehouse. I asked what was in all the boxes, and the guy told me, “Paperwork from our old jobs.” I said, “Wow! That’s a lot of paper!” He proceeded to tell me that they kept all of the old cutting lists and build tickets from each job; about a one or two inch thick stack of paper for each job. I asked, “What are you going to do when you fill up this room?” He said, “Oh, this is our third room like this. We’ll figure something out.”

As I said, this was a few years ago, but I think every component manufacturer then had a place where the paperwork from old jobs was stored. There were two primary reasons for doing this. First, the paperwork was saved for reference in case a customer or homeowner had a question about an old job. Second, there was a legal obligation to maintain records of the work done. Everyone who worked in the industry in those days recalls having to fish out an old job from the archives. The place chosen to store the old jobs was usually selected because it was either the dustiest place in the facility, or because of the high moisture content – which helped promote research to discover the ideal environment for the growth of mold.

Things have changed a great deal since then. Many reading this are well on their way to creating a more digital, less paper, workplace. Others aren’t sure there are really compelling reasons to change. In 1995, the book Being Digital got many people thinking about the cost savings of keeping information in digital form. I remember a few years ago seeing huge stacks of overnight and US Mail packages stacked up in the hallway at MiTek every day with sealed drawings for customers. Those designs began their lives electronically (on designer’s screens,) were printed on paper, put on trucks, put on airplanes, put on trucks (again) and then stuck in file cabinets. That’s seems incredibly wasteful compared to keeping them “digital” for their entire life as we do today with secured PDF files of sealed engineering drawings sent electronically via the Internet.

Creating your own document management system

What artifacts do retain for each job? The list might include digital things like the truss and layout files, and paper things like the a cost analysis or a signed delivery ticket. Make a list of the job artifacts you retain. If the list includes physical things (like paperwork,), ask “Are there any I can live without?” Why hold on to anything you can’t identify to real, specific purpose for?

Consider, “What would it take to make my archives 100% digital? (no paper)? There are two ways to achieve this. First, you can scan and save the documents you want to keep. The other is to create them as electronic documents to begin with, then print them if you need to. For example, rather than print your quotes and trusses directly to a printer, first create PDF versions of them, then print them. This way once they have served their purpose as paper documents, toss them knowing you have electronic copies if you need them.

MiTek has a built-in PDF creator right in the Engineering program for that can be used for truss drawings. And although the full-blown Adobe® Acrobat™ is expensive, there are lower cost options out there. A logical goal is to have all the job artifacts in a single location on your server. My list would include truss and layout files, individual truss shop drawings, sealed drawings, the quote and order sheet, shipping ticket, invoice, and photos of the load or the job site. Moving to “all digital” archiving requires getting serious about backups and off-site storage of information. No digital archiving solution is complete without an off-site, secure backup system.