About the Record Management Industry
Record management has been an essential practice across various civilizations throughout history. Early examples include the ancient Egyptians, who kept detailed records on papyrus, and the Romans, who maintained public records known as tabularia.
Over time, the importance of preserving documents for administrative, legal, and historical purposes became widely recognized, leading to the development of systematic record management practices worldwide.
Today, records play a crucial role in preserving history and are indispensable in administrative, legal, financial, and cultural fields. In response to increasing demand, organizations are gradually outsourcing record management to professional third-party companies for efficient and secure management.
However, in China, the development of archival service outsourcing has lagged behind faster-paced industries like the Internet. There is a pressing need for innovation to bring new technologies into record management and deliver efficient services to society. Xiangcheng Records is stepping in to fill this gap.
A Game-changer in the Industry
Xiangcheng Records Co., Ltd. (hereinafter called Xiangcheng Records) was established on July 1, 2023. The company specializes in file sorting, digitization, management consulting, and storage services. Its clientele includes large enterprises, government departments, families, and individuals.
To capitalize on the market opportunity in the records service outsourcing industry, the company has focused on traditional file management while also making a decisive move toward intelligent record management.
Xiangcheng Records has two intelligent record management centers, the latest of which was officially opened on July 25. The center has established cooperation with several government departments, courts, universities, hospitals, and insurance companies and has received good market feedback.
How can a young company quickly establish two efficient record management centers, operate them successfully, and attract valuable partners’ attention?
The Real Smart Record Management Center
The Xiangcheng Smart Record Management Center project covers a total construction area of 5,930.8 square meters, including 2,223 square meters for the record intelligent library. It features three records storage warehouses with 210,000 boxes (2 million volumes) and 22 data cabinets. Smart robots are used for unmanned storage management, and safety features include gas fire extinguishing, optical fiber temperature control, and inhalation smoke detection systems.
Digitization and automation technology have made record management more efficient and secure. For instance, customers can submit document query requests through the software. Once the staff reviews the request, a robot can retrieve and deliver the files to the customer.
The center has reduced labor input by 90% compared to other record management companies.
Efficient record management depends on advanced hardware facilities and, most importantly, a suite of robust and flexible business management systems. These systems serve as the “brain” of the entire smart record management center, enabling unified warehouse management, contract management, customer management, and more.
However, the Xiangcheng team encountered numerous challenges while developing this central management system.
The Problem of “Brain” Building
How can the central management system be built to support the smart record management center’s efficient operation? Due to record management services’ unique and complex needs, few out-of-the-box products are available on the market. Additionally, the cost and time required to develop a new system are unacceptable to Xiangcheng Records. The sensitivity of archival data also requires the system’s on-premise deployment.
Therefore, the Xiangcheng Records team decided to find a low/no-code platform for quickly developing the business management system. However, converting business requirements into system functions remains a significant challenge, regardless of the software type.
Archivists typically understand record operations such as collection, organization, transfer, retrieval, and other related tasks. However, they may need more expertise in information systems technology. Many low-code platforms introduce data structures, views, and code, making it challenging for frontline staff to begin building the system to meet complex requirements.
A successful low/no-code platform should be user-friendly and easy to learn for non-technical staff. Xiangcheng Records urgently needed a solution for a project with tight deadlines and complex functions. The chosen platform should be self-hosting, secure, and able to meet the specific needs of the record center while breaking traditional low-code limitations.
NocoBase: Putting Development on the Fast Track
When Xiangcheng’s records business frontline staff tried and abandoned many low-code platforms at home and abroad, the project delivery deadline was approaching desperately. Fortunately, the team encountered NocoBase.
It was the three highlights of NocoBase that captured the teams’ attention:
- Freely switchable WYSIWYG pages
- Freely organized block-style layout
- Freely adapted external interfaces
It isn’t easy to find these freedoms with other low-code platforms. Growing organizations need tools like LEGO that can be freely combined and creative rather than complex, obscure, slow-moving machines.
For instance, frontline records staff can easily create a page for records management by dragging and dropping fields and actions. Combining different page blocks builds a commonly used operation page. NocoBase offers flexible API capabilities, enabling quick integration with RFID systems and hardware for efficient warehouse management.
After verifying the system’s feasibility, the Xiangcheng records team quickly invested in its development. At the end of 2023, the team launched part of the essential business systems in just one month.
By April 2024, Xiangcheng Records began to connect with WMS and RFID systems, and the integration work went smoothly thanks to NocoBase’s cooperation.
Xiangcheng Records has integrated various systems, including CRM, RMS, WMS, AMS, and RFID tags, through the integrated management system built by NocoBase. The system also allows flexible adjustments to meet changing needs.
In June 2024, the Xiangcheng records team successfully ran the overall business process using the integrated management system built by NocoBase. The process included entering contracts, assigning tasks, generating orders, printing RFID tags, and completing automatic warehousing after receiving instructions.
Interface of the City of Aroma archival business management system:
The interface for each role is straightforward to understand, leading to efficient business operations and improved automation. From the arrival of the first batch of records in June to the library’s opening in July, the records center operated effectively, with an inventory utilization rate of 5.9% in the first month, surpassing the planned 2.8%.
Looking Ahead
Xiangcheng Records has taken on a challenging journey by launching the Smart Records Management Center. However, even more challenges are ahead, including comprehensive management of smart parks, integration of IoT devices, aggregation and visualization of various data, transformation of LLMs of business systems, and implementation of customer systems.
Concurrently, new features and plugins are continually being released according to NocoBase’s Roadmap, providing strong product support for Xiangcheng Records.
Moving forward, Xiangcheng Records will continue to explore NocoBase’s potential. For example, the team plans to develop low-code systems for managing smart factories, parks, and buildings. This initiative will facilitate IoT integration and establish a data governance platform based on NocoBase, making it a promising option for the industry.
With the right strategy, NocoBase can help enterprises streamline and standardize their essential operations, laying a solid foundation for Xiangcheng Records to build a brand image of “safety, wisdom, and professionalism.”. Additionally, NocoBase fosters employee growth and enterprise development, shaping a promising future for Xiangcheng Records.
—— Sun Xiaofeng, head of Xiangcheng Records
Tool upgrading helps the company to innovate and become a game changer in the industry, drives organizational change, and injects unlimited impetus into development. For Xiangcheng Records, NocoBase is a production tool and a key force promoting the enterprise’s development.