Abstract

This study examined how a secure digital workflow could support coordination efficiency, document-use accuracy, and workflow-level data protection across the natural stone project lifecycle within a professional practice context. It addressed workflow fragmentation in which project documents were managed through email correspondence, shared folders, and individually maintained records. These arrangements created recurring risks relating to version control, approval traceability, information retrieval, and access boundaries.

A practitioner-led Action Research approach was used to design, implement, and evaluate a purpose-built secure digital workflow within one live natural stone project. The intervention was organized through eight workflow stages and involved four direct operational system-user roles: Project Manager (PM), Engineering Team, Site Team, and Shipping Control. The workflow incorporated PM-controlled promotion of authoritative drawing batches, structured batch-status management, role-based access permissions, controlled external document release, and role-coded, timestamped workflow records.