The Importance of Scanning O&M Manuals
The benefits of scanning Operation Manuals to a digital format are immense. Costs, both monetary and environmental, lifespan, and ease of use are among the most important.
Financial and environmental costs
Financially there’s simply no comparison. Electronic versions of O&M manuals are far less expensive in terms of production costs. In fact, you’ll be avoiding the costs involved with printing entirely. Hundreds of pages versus a single DVD (or a pair of them) are simply going to be more expensive. Looking at the two side by side, the environmental savings are clear as well. If your company prides itself on social responsibility, sustainability, or being green, go digital!
Lifespan
One of the more frustrating aspects of dealing with paper O&M manuals is the fact that they are very easily damaged. Pages are often removed for projects, and then not replaced as they should be. Depending upon the industry, they may also quickly become damaged due to dirt, oil, or other substances.
Digital copies are free of these risks. Physical hard drives, disks, and thumb drives can, it’s true, be damaged. However, the information on them can be backed up in full in multiple places, ensuring it remains available and intact.
Ease of use
This is perhaps the largest advantage a digital O&M manual offers over a physical paper version. Digital O&M manuals can be organized using hot links. They can incorporate sophisticated search functions. They can be viewed across a wide variety of different devices.
There are, of course, some that will argue that electronic versions—because of that very sophistication—are too complex. However, this is usually due to the fact that these particular users are unfamiliar with or uncomfortable with digital technologies. Current and future generations will undoubtedly find digital versions superior.
Switch today
The sooner you decide to make the switch to digital O&M manuals, the better. You’ll find that your employees appreciate the ease with which they can access operations and maintenance information, as well as the flexibility to use different devices when doing so. You’ll appreciate the fact that the manuals don’t require constant replacement and cost less.
Digital operations and maintenance manuals are cheaper, practically indestructible, and easy to store, access, and use. There is really no reason to put off making the switch, and the sooner your employees become accustomed to using a digital version, the sooner you’ll be able to reap the benefits.