M-Files Streamlines Document Management, Automates Workflows, and Enhances Compliance to Support Whirlwind Steel’s Rapid Expansion and Growth

AUSTIN, Texas – October 31, 2024 – M-Files, the leader in knowledge work automation, today announced that Whirlwind Steel, Inc., a Houston-based manufacturer and distributor of pre-engineered metal buildings and components, has adopted the M-Files knowledge work automation platform to drive its digital transformation initiatives and enhance document management, supporting the company’s rapid growth and expansion across the Southern United States.

Whirlwind Steel needed a scalable, efficient solution to address the complexities of managing project documentation and automate workflows to ensure that building specification work orders and diagrams remain current throughout the manufacturing build stage. Managing over 200 concurrent projects, the team faced inefficiencies from manual, inconsistent workflows and disparate document storage systems in Microsoft Teams and SharePoint. This resulted in delays and confusion in the manufacturing process, with incorrect or outdated designs and work orders reaching the shop floor.

As the company looked to modernize its IT infrastructure to support organizational changes, it initially considered building a system in-house, but quickly pivoted to searching for an information management vendor to fulfill its needs. M-Files stood out as the optimal solution for Whirlwind Steel with its ability to manage the entire lifecycle of documents—from creation to disposal—and automate key processes. Its user-friendly interface and seamless integration with the company's Microsoft Azure-based applications further solidified its position as the preferred choice.

"Before M-Files, we relied heavily on Microsoft SharePoint and Teams to manage documents and workflows manually," said Tim Hensley, vice president, IT, Whirlwind Steel. "However, these tools alone lacked the sophisticated document lifecycle management, version control, and workflow automation we needed to ensure accuracy and streamline our processes. M-Files allows us to establish a source of truth for our documentation, preventing costly change orders and reducing delays in the manufacturing process, which is vital as we continue to grow and scale. As Whirlwind Steel continues to innovate, the implementation of M-Files is a vital step in accelerating our digital transformation. We’re confident that M-Files, used in unison with Microsoft SharePoint and Teams, will play a crucial role in our ongoing success,” said Hensley.

Additionally, Whirlwind Steel selected M-Files to streamline the review and approval of internal company policies across multiple departments and support quarterly audits, ensuring compliance through automation. M-Files offers rich capabilities for defining and enforcing company policies, standards, and regulatory controls, providing fine-grained control over document versions, publishing, and distribution. Every action in M-Files leaves an audit trail, allowing Whirlwind Steel to automatically apply records-management rules for retention, disposition, and legal holds.  By embedding compliance controls into its daily workflows, Whirlwind Steel can reduce the risk of human error, ensuring data is handled, retained, and archived properly. This automation not only increases productivity but also ensures that audit evidence is generated seamlessly, reducing the reliance on individual diligence and minimizing the risk of data leakage.

The implementation of M-Files also supports Whirlwind Steel’s strategic prioritization process based on the Entrepreneurial Operating System® (EOS), which focuses on optimizing the lifecycle management of operational documents and processes to drive efficiencies. With M-Files, Whirlwind Steel can streamline document-intensive processes, such as training and work orders, through advanced workflow automation. Custom workflows guide documents through each lifecycle phase with automatic updates and notifications. Users can also assign tasks, manage follow ups, and ensure that workflows are proceeding at the correct pace, increasing workflow efficiency by 70%.

M-Files offers a metadata-driven approach to storing and organizing files. Rather than migrating data to a central location, the M-Files platform leaves documents wherever they reside and creates connections to them. With this metadata foundation, M-Files ensures that documents are placed in context and stored with built-in version history and duplicate detection. By automating job folder creation, enforcing file naming conventions, and enabling easy document search and retrieval, M-Files ensures that the most up-to-date and accurate project documentation is accessible company-wide.  M-Files enhances investments in Microsoft 365 by strengthening support for business processes and information governance. By connecting all repositories and systems, M-Files provides a unified access point to all enterprise data, empowering companies to find, access, and manage documents through familiar Microsoft 365 interfaces, regardless of their location.

"Whirlwind Steel’s adoption of M-Files is a clear example of how knowledge work automation can revolutionize business operations,” said Bob Pritchard, chief revenue officer, M-Files. “By harnessing our platform, they’ve turned information chaos into streamlined, intelligent workflows—enabling faster decision-making, cutting down errors, and driving real productivity gains. M-Files not only ensures compliance and security but also empowers teams to focus on high-value tasks by automating routine processes. We’re excited to support Whirlwind Steel as they continue to scale and innovate with the power of knowledge work automation."

To experience how M-Files can transform information management processes and your business, visit: www.m-files.com to request a demo or access our free trial.

About M-Files
M-Files is the leading platform for knowledge work automation. With the M-Files platform, knowledge workers can find information faster, work smarter, and achieve more. M-Files features an innovative metadata-driven architecture, embedded workflow engine, and advanced artificial intelligence. This enables customers to eliminate information chaos, improve process efficiency, and automate security and compliance. For more information, visit www.m-files.com.

About Whirlwind Steel
Family owned and operated since 1955, Whirlwind Steel is proud to have served the needs of contractors, builders, architects, businesses, governmental organizations, and consumers. Our discerning customers have turned to Whirlwind Steel with confidence for pre-engineered metal buildings and components including panels, primary and secondary structural framing, roofing, solar racks plus a full line of metal building accessories and trims. Both welded and cold-form steel framing is done by fully trained professionals and our quality control team is the best in the industry. Now is the time for you to find out why so many people have trusted Whirlwind Steel with their most important projects for so long.

Media Contact:

Ellen Miles for M-Files
[email protected]