Client Context
A mid-sized engineering consultancy needed to issue digitally signed PDFs for government and private sector projects. Signing wasn’t just a stamp – it required encrypted, certificate-backed signatures to prove authenticity and prevent tampering. The process was eating up time, distracting staff, and delaying submissions.
The Challenge
- Manual signing of every drawing PDF, taking 30 seconds to 10 minutes each
- Administrators pulled away from higher-value tasks just to run the process
- A single encrypted USB drive used for signing created a bottleneck – only one machine could sign at a time
- Engineers working late or remotely couldn’t issue drawings until signatures were applied
- Submissions often held up by this last, repetitive step
The Solution
I built a secure web application that automated the entire signing process.
- Staff upload or link a folder of PDFs
- The system locates the signature block, applies the encrypted digital signature, and logs the action
- Signed documents remain on the client’s local servers; the web app only provides the workflow and audit trail
- Engineers and technicians can now self-serve the process – no bottlenecks, no delays
The Impact
- Hours saved daily – signing now takes minutes for entire sets, not hours of manual work
- No more single-point dependency on a physical USB token or one administrator
- Faster submissions – engineers can issue drawings the moment they’re approved
- Improved compliance – every signature logged with a clear audit trail
- Scalable – from a handful of PDFs to full drawing sets, without extra admin effort
The Impact
- Hours saved daily – signing now takes minutes for entire sets, not hours of manual work
- No more single-point dependency on a physical USB token or one administrator
- Faster submissions – engineers can issue drawings the moment they’re approved
- Improved compliance – every signature logged with a clear audit trail
- Scalable – from a handful of PDFs to full drawing sets, without extra admin effort
Call to Action
Got a process that drains time and stalls projects? Let’s automate it. Contact me to talk about streamlining your workflows.
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