Data-driven working as a document controller? How do you actually do that? Let’s zoom in on that in this article, together with Anita Stoker.

Since she works at Damen, she has only had one goal: ’I want to improve the data flow for the entire team. Everyone should see the benefits.’ Anita is a document controller at Damen and has had this passion for Shipbuilder since she started working at Damen Shiprepair Rotterdam in 2017. Anita: ‘Working with Shipbuilder makes my tasks so much easier, faster and more fun. My colleagues notice this as well. Outside the organisation, our clients ask how I manage to provide such accurate documentation in no-time. I like to talk about this.’ We are talking with Anita at Damen Shiprepair in the beautiful city of Vlissingen where people work hard on lots of new, challenging projects.

Document control 2.0

Anita: ‘When Shipbuilder asked me to participate in an interview, I was a bit surprised at first. After all: Shipbuilder is so much more than just a Document Control Management system, isn’t it? However, if I look closely at how I work, I really make use of the power of Shipbuilder Software. I’ll give you an example. I put all the variation orders that I receive in Shipbuilder with a status. I am only one click away from a complete overview of all variation orders of my projects. I’ve never seen any other program do that.’

Excel taboo, on our way to a single source of truth

Naturally, Anita has a lot of experience with keeping lists and overviews of all the documents that are associated with the complex Damen projects. Anita: ‘I also used to keep many overview lists in complex Excel files. But there’s really nothing automatic about that and as a working method it is old school. It was especially annoying when the Excel turned out to be corrupted: bye, bye data, bye, bye reliable source of information. Often, there also turned out to be various versions. I am really happy that I can rely on my single source of truth in Shipbuilder Software.”

Data-driven working: Perfect for the organisation

‘If I want to improve processes, I first ask myself this question: how will the entire team benefit from this improvement?’ Anita continues. ‘Together with the Shipbuilder team, I set up the template in such a way that it is completely adapted for a new project. This is essential because every project has its own codes, descriptions and procedures. No problem, because it is easily adaptable in Shipbuilder Software. My colleagues are still surprised by the fact that we can immediately check and deliver the status of a report with deadlines and all. As a result, I see that, for example, the collaboration with other locations is now easier and smoother because we can provide the information they need in a much more structured way. A transmittal is therefore also a piece of cake.’

Data-driven working: Perfect for the customer

‘A major customer of ours was really enthusiastic recently when I provided him with an overview of the status of his project within one day. It included an index where all information about every single item could be found, even all information about the process could be found immediately. That is why I do it and I am really happy that Shipbuilder makes it possible. When I show colleagues all the possibilities that the current software, such as Shipbuilder, provides, they are immediately convinced. It is a different way of working, much more fun really, and the result for the customer is so much better.’

Shipbuilder as a colleague

‘I can also easily show my colleagues that data-driven working helps us move forward, because Yves de Vos from Shipbuilder comes regularly here to my office to support us ‘on the job’. In fact, I rather see him as a colleague. We work well together. When we need other specific structures or input fields for a project, I will do some brainstorming about it with Yves and a few colleagues. Some more clicks and we can get started. This way, I, along with Shipbuilder, have built up the confidence within the organization that data-driven working really works for us at Damen.’