Document Management Examples - Inspiration & Best Practices

Document management systems form the backbone of knowledge-intensive organisations. From legal case files to technical documentation — the ability to securely store, quickly retrieve, and version control documents determines your team's efficiency. Modern DMS solutions go beyond simple file storage: they offer workflow automation, complete audit trails, and intelligent search functionality. In these examples, we show how organisations have transformed their document management.

Legal case management for a law firm

A law firm with 50 lawyers implemented a custom DMS that centrally manages case files. Each case has a structured dossier with court documents, correspondence, and contracts. The system offers full-text search across all documents, automatic version control, and strict access control per case. Integration with Microsoft Office ensures documents are saved directly from Word into the correct case file.

• Case-based file structure with automatic classification
• Full-text search across millions of documents with OCR for scans
• Granular access control per case and per document type
• Microsoft Office integration for seamless document management

Medical document management for a hospital

A hospital implemented a document management system for medical documents that don't fit in the EHR, such as surgical reports, informed consent forms, and multidisciplinary meeting minutes. The system complies with healthcare regulations and retains documents according to legally required retention periods. Automatic metadata extraction and classification ensure documents are quickly findable by the care team.

• Healthcare-compliant storage with encryption at-rest and in-transit
• Automatic retention management per legal requirements
• AI-powered metadata extraction and document classification
• Integration with EHR system via XDS profile

Project documentation for a construction company

A construction company centralised all project documentation in a cloud-based DMS. Blueprints, permits, safety certificates, and handover documents are organised per project with version control. External parties such as subcontractors and clients gain access to relevant documents via secure links without needing to create an account on the platform.

• Project-based document organisation with folder templates
• External sharing via secure links with expiry dates and download limits
• Automatic version control for every blueprint modification
• Mobile app for document access on the construction site

Compliance archive for a financial institution

A financial institution built a compliance archive that stores all relevant documents according to regulatory requirements. The system automatically enforces retention periods, generates audit trails for all document actions, and produces compliance reports for regulators. During an audit, the complete document lifecycle from creation to archiving can be reconstructed with timestamps and user actions.

• Automatic retention management with retention policies
• Immutable audit trail of all document actions
• Compliance reporting for regulatory authorities
• Tamper-proof storage with cryptographic integrity verification

Key takeaways

• Full-text search with OCR support makes all documents discoverable, including scanned paper documents.
• Automatic retention management prevents both premature deletion and unnecessary storage of outdated documents.
• Granular access control is essential to protect confidential documents from unauthorised access.
• Integration with existing tools like Microsoft Office and industry-specific systems increases employee adoption.
• An immutable audit trail is indispensable for organisations with compliance obligations.

How MG Software can help

MG Software develops custom document management systems that fit your organisation and industry. We combine secure storage, intelligent search functionality, and workflow automation into a DMS that makes your employees more productive. From legal case files to compliance archives — we build solutions that meet your specific requirements.