Maintaining Data Accuracy and Integrity in the Manufacturing Industry Small and medium businesses increasingly tap into the benefits offered by outsourcing to a data entry company to go paperless, and streamline various business processes.
2016
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The world of manufacturing is undergoing tremendous transformation with new machines, processes and materials as well as advanced data entry, management and network technology. In any manufacturing process, a key component is data collection. You must keep track of stock levels, keep tabs on shipping dates and monitor costs to ensure smooth running of the organization. Along with the data directly fed into the databases, spreadsheets and specialized software programs used to track scheduling, shipping, purchasing, inventory control and so on, manufacturing entities also have to deal with a lot of paper documents. The data entry can be really tedious for all involved, consuming much of the time that ought to have been reserved for manufacturing output. Paper pain points are thus many, and include record retention requirements such as having to retain many records for a certain time period. Any growing business will at some time or other find that their data collection and management systems need to be adapted considerably to keep pace with the increasing data inflow. Small and mid-sized businesses increasingly tap into the benefits offered by outsourcing to a data entry company to go paperless, and streamline various business processes such as invoice, bill, ticket and survey form processing and product branding. Many manufacturing industries are also harnessing the power of the cloud to bring about procedural improvements. The power of the cloud is enabling manufacturers to interact easily with their customers and dealers by enabling instant access to organized data and enhancing communication across digital platforms. Data Integrity – a Significant Consideration The pharmaceutical industry is a good example of a paper-intensive industry that has to handle voluminous data. Pharmaceutical distributors work with hundreds of pharmacies and thousands of vendors. Typically, misfiled and lost documents are a common occurrence when working with paper documents. Digitization of paper documents is indeed a great way to reduce clutter in the office, save space and costs and improve efficiency. However, digitization shouldn’t come at a cost – i.e. data integrity should not be lost in the process. The FDA is seeing many cases of the pharmaceutical industry being less careful than it should be as regards ensuring data integrity and security. In this line of industry, this is a serious issue because any decision made on the basis of wrong data can lead to the release of medicines that are not safe. For instance, drugs that are approved on the basis of erratic trials data can pose risk to the life of patients. In April 2016, the FDA issued for comment, a new draft guidance for the pharmaceutical industry to help
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elucidate “the role of data integrity in current good manufacturing practice (cGMP) for drugs.� So, what is data integrity? According to the FDA, it is the consistency, completeness and accuracy of data that should be attributable, legible, contemporaneously recorded, original or a true copy, and accurate (ALCOA). Data integrity is decided by data quality and accuracy. The accuracy and quality of data depends on the instruments and personnel associated with data entry and management. Maintaining data integrity becomes more difficult when the need arises to pool data from different sources into a single location. Experts advise that organizations in the scientific sector would benefit by using open platforms that meet data security and validation requirements, and also interface directly with various data sources and data-consuming applications from various vendors instead of creating a huge data warehouse. Importantly, they should also be capable of managing diverse data formats generated across several disciplines. In general practice, companies should put systems in place to ensure compliance with data integrity mandates and guidelines. The Outsourcing Model Many organizations in the manufacturing sector ensure data integrity with the efficient support of data entry outsourcing service providers. This helps in automation of important data safely and systematically. Improves Manufacturing Process and Efficiency By outsourcing data entry and management to a professional vendor, employees of the organization can focus on core activities rather than waste time processing the data. High quality organized data that is made easily accessible, allows employees to work efficiently. Customer queries can be quickly answered and their needs met in a timely manner, thus ensuring customer satisfaction. Excellent Quality assurance Data entry specialists ensure high quality processing of data without any room for errors. These skilled personnel can handle huge volumes of data and provide excellent service. They are also capable of meeting short deadlines with error-free service. Another advantage of hiring these services is that they use highly advanced latest technology for processing data that in turn ensures excellent quality.
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(800) 670 2809
Data entry companies help organizations in the manufacturing industry meet their data management requirements and stay competitive. They provide the service of skilled workers and utilize the latest technology to bring about quality output ensuring data integrity and completeness.
www.managedoutsource.com
(800) 670 2809