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Document Control is management of documents to a much higher degree of reliability for security, version, visibility, availability and, most importantly, with a controlled reliable audit trail.
Typically it is not used for high volumes of transient documents. Transient documents are those that will often be items of correspondence, scanned hard copies of letters etc., documents that have a single version life i.e. they are released and are stored or destroyed.
Having a stringent control mechanism for all documents would just not be appropriate however, having no control mechanism for any documents is unthinkable - or at least it should be! For example: key processes, specification sheets, submissions to authorities, standard contract terms, control plans …. the list of such documents goes on and on.
The common factors that make these documents "important" are that they are generally long lasting, their release for use is well considered, goes through an approval process and they may have many versions during their life. The ability to know when particular features appeared in a document, why, who approved the change and who was advised of the new version is often essential. That is not to say it is essential to know this all the time for every document but the ability to locate that information instantly, with total confidence in it's reliability, when it is required, is essential.
Most companies do this with incredible levels of incompetence, indifference or volumes of paper that make finding the information like locating a particular splinter in a felled forest (commonly required for paper based systems!). Controlled management of documents is no more difficult than managing transient documents; it just needs different tools that specialize in the job.
In a recent presentation the Unisys Director of Global Operations, Jim Ostapa said that they had cut the volume of controlled documents by around 60%, improved their true control, improved controlled access and ensured a level of uniformity across global operation previously unavailable. This was done using PROQUIS Enterprise web Document Control solution alongside their document management system which continues to be used for their volume transient documents.