Engineering Drawing Management
Services
Drawing Management, Business Process Management, User Experience
Situation
A leading producer and developer of automatic door systems – sliding doors, hinged doors, revolving doors, in the UK, Sweden, Germany, the USA and China, and offers service worldwide. With 1,500 employees in 25 subsidiaries and presence in a further 55 countries via distributors, information storage and retrieval is paramount. Through continuous development of its products, large quantities of technical information and documentation is constantly being modified. The company had different systems for its different product areas, and information was only available to a few people via specific terminals. When the system was due to be modernised and replaced with a simple, flexible system for handling all document structures and drawings, the choice fell to advantum.
Action
An advantum system was implemented to allow the company to work in a uniform way. Users can access the information they need from their own computers. Initially advantum was used purely as a PDM system (Product Data Management) for technical documentation, in which drawings, 3D models, product and article structures and other technical product information were key important components. Over time the installation has grown, both in terms of user numbers and functionality. The system now also includes management of images, product information, project information, purchasing documentation and automatically generated reports. Thanks to its powerful workflow functionality, advantum has been the natural choice for the change process which is business critical to the organisation. advantum’s workflow engine gives the company total control and an overview of its extensive business processes in a natural way.
The system is also used as a CAPA (Corrective and Preventive Action) system to deal with all modifications to existing products. Claims from all over the world are logged and forwarded for processing in controlled workflows. Many different functions within the company are involved and advantum makes it possible to trace all measures that have been taken – and to accelerate the process if a drawing were to get caught up somewhere along the workflow chain. The company has outsourced responsibility to an external partner for technical documentation. The partner will also have access to secured parts of the system, for instance to upload manuals.
Results
Simplified daily procedures and improved quality assurance were two major benefits that imediately became apparent once advantum was installed. Following the upgrade to advantum release 3, the system is in line with the company’s requirement profile. Thanks to advantum’s advanced security and authorisation control, users can always be sure of where, when and how documents and drawings have been created and modified. The system supports the company's standard procedures, leading to workflow that is clear and easy to follow.
Technology
advantum
