How a Power Generation Cooperative Modernized Engineering Document Access Ahead of Workforce Turnover

A U.S. electric generation cooperative replaced a SharePoint 2010 environment paired with a third-party drawing viewer with ImageSite, eQuorum’s engineering document management system (EDMS). The switch centralized drawing access, simplified batch uploads, and gave the plant a foundation for capturing institutional knowledge as experienced staff retire.

The Challenge: A Clunky Viewer and Disappearing Tribal Knowledge

Before adopting ImageSite, the cooperative managed engineering drawings in SharePoint using a bolted-on, third-party viewer. It worked, but barely: the viewing window was small, uploads had to be done one file at a time, and version history was difficult to follow. For a power generation plant where technicians and engineers need fast, reliable access to accurate drawings, that friction added up.

“Before ImageSite, we were using SharePoint 2010 with a third-party viewer. The viewer window was small and not very user-friendly for reviewing drawings. Version history was also not as clear or easy.”

- Senior Document Control Specialist

The bigger issue wasn’t really the software; though, it was coming. As one plant representative put it, one of the biggest changes on the horizon is experienced employees retiring.

In power generation specifically, a lot of critical knowledge about equipment history, drawing revisions, and site-specific quirks has traditionally lived in people’s heads rather than in accessible records. As that generation retires, plants are realizing that “just ask [veteran engineer]” isn’t a sustainable knowledge management strategy.

“One of the biggest changes we are seeing is experienced employees retiring. As tribal knowledge leaves the plant, accurate and accessible files become more important. Information that used to be “just known” now needs to be documented and easy to find so newer employees can rely on the records instead of having to know who to ask.”

- Senior Document Control Specialist

Why It Mattered More for This Cooperative

This is a common pattern eQuorum sees across legacy power plants, particularly those receiving private equity investment for modernization: the software gap and the workforce gap hit at the same time.

A plant can have the most accurate as-built drawings in the world, but if that information isn’t centralized, searchable, and easy for a newer employee to find independently, the institutional knowledge walks out the door anyway.

The Outcome

Since moving to ImageSite:

• Centralized access replaced the fragmented SharePoint-plus-viewer setup, making drawings and documents easier to find in one system rather than spread across a legacy platform and a separate viewing tool.
• Newer employees can find content independently. According to the cooperative, one of the clearest benefits has been that users “seem more confident finding content on their own,” reducing reliance on informally asking whoever happens to know where a drawing lives.
• A documented system of record now exists as a foundation for capturing knowledge that used to be tribal, ahead of retirements that would otherwise take that knowledge with them.

Notably, the cooperative was candid that version control isn’t fully solved; hard copies still circulate on the plant floor, and discipline around checking version history before referencing a printed drawing still depends on the user. That’s a realistic, common transition point for plants moving off paper-heavy workflows, not a shortcoming unique to this site.

This is precisely where workflow, rather than storage alone, closes the gap. A shared drive or basic document repository only answers “where is the file.” A workflow-driven EDMS answers “which version is actually current, and who confirmed that.” In practice, that comes from a few things working together:

• Version history is visible at the point of use, not buried in a separate audit log, so a technician looking up a drawing sees the current revision status without needing to go looking for it.
• Check-in/check-out control means a drawing being actively revised is flagged as such, reducing the odds that someone references or prints an outdated copy mid-revision.
• Notifications on revision can alert relevant users when a drawing they rely on has been updated, instead of leaving it to chance that someone remembers to grab the newest hard copy.

None of that fully removes the habit of keeping paper on the floor; that’s a plant-culture question as much as a software one. But it does shrink the specific failure mode this cooperative described: a user defaulting to whatever printed copy is nearest, rather than confirming it’s current.

Interestingly, mobile access wasn’t the primary driver of value for the utility. The plant has limited Wi-Fi coverage on the floor, so most usage stays on desktops. The win was less about “documents in your pocket” and more about having one authoritative place to look, regardless of device.

Why This Matters for Other Legacy Power Plants

If your plant is running on an aging document platform, or a spreadsheet-and-shared-drive system, and you’re also watching your most experienced staff approach retirement, the two problems compound each other. An EDMS doesn’t just organize files; it converts undocumented, person-dependent knowledge into a searchable asset the next generation of staff can rely on.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is an EDMS in the context of power generation?

An engineering document management system (EDMS) is a centralized platform for storing, versioning, and controlling access to engineering drawings, as-built documents, and related technical files. It replaces informal systems like shared drives, SharePoint, or paper copies.

Why is document management becoming more urgent for utilities right now?

Three converging trends: aging infrastructure requiring modernization (often under private equity ownership), focus on grid security given recent software and hacking events, and a wave of retirements among experienced engineering and operations staff who have historically carried undocumented institutional knowledge.

Does moving to an EDMS eliminate version control problems?

It significantly reduces the risk by centralizing the current version and making history visible, but it doesn’t remove the need for user discipline — especially in environments where hard copies of drawings are still in circulation on the floor.

Is mobile access necessary to get value from an EDMS?

No. While mobile and remote access is valuable for many customers, plants with limited on-site connectivity still see strong value from centralized desktop access alone.