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May 2011
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Engineering Document Management and Control
Business Opportunity or Technical Challenge?
Paul Muir, CEO McLaren Software |
Firstly thank you for taking the time to read this eZine. Over 7,000 Information Managers, Project Managers, Document Controllers, Engineering, IT professionals and partners have opted in to receive this eZine. All feedback is gratefully received and used to shape Enterprise Engineer to help our customers support the safe, efficient and compliant construction and operation of plants and facilities. |
There has been a noticeable increase in the level of participation from engineering departments working alongside IT in the selection process of engineering document control applications in the past year. Over 75% of RFI’s, RFP’s and general enquiries we receive are from companies looking for replacements to existing ECM based customizations or services oriented frameworks with proven engineering document control applications. This is both a great indicator of the maturity of the ECM market and that line of business content applications have now reached the mainstream as predicted by many of the leading research organizations.
Supporting engineering documentation and control processes on an ECM platform was once seen as a technical challenge bringing together all the necessary integration, viewing and renditioning tools and utilities on which to build the document control processes. The successes of these engineering document control customizations depended to a large degree on the engineering domain knowledge of the designer or implementer rather than their knowledge of the ECM platform.
Document control, document management and records management are all different and critical disciplines and in many organisations different products. I believe that the biggest benefits to our customers come when document control and document management processes are seamlessly integrated and delivered across the business on a scalable ECM platform which eases adherence to compliance policies. Spin off benefits related to workforce mobility and cost of ownership are also realised due to standardisation of user experience and technology.
Customer News
Grunenthal, a leading European Pharmaceutical company, have successfully rolled out McLaren Services for Microsoft Outlook to an existing validated Enterprise Engineer system to over 2,500 users. The extension includes a range of new users providing ease of access to view and record via electronic signatures that standard operating procedures have been individually read and acknowledged.
IDOX Plc
As a fully owned subsidiary of IDOX plc McLaren Software has access to a wider range of technical and financial resources to support the company’s broader geographic coverage, product development and services.
If you would like more information on any topics included in this eZine please visit our new website at www.mclarensoftware.com or email tim.taylor@mclaresoftware.
Paul Muir CEO
McLaren Services for Outlook
User adoption and change management is an essential component of any successful software solution. It is so much easier if you can say to your manager and engineering – “No you don’t have to learn how to use another application, you can find and work with your documents, carry out a review or provide an approval inside outlook”. All of the McLaren Work Manager capabilities or a limited set of capabilities geared to a particular user’s role can now be access from within Microsoft Outlook - now fully available.
Deployment Options
Enterprise Engineer has been designed to securely transmit information via HTTPS. In practice this means a number of deployment options are available including “On Premise”, Private Cloud or Managed Hosted. New systems can be implemented on-line and moved to on premise or vice versa to meet changing demands.
Trade Shows and Conferences
EMC World
Attending EMC World 2011 in Vegas NV USA for the 11th year in succession. 9-12 May 2011.
http://www.emcworld.com/
World Heavy Oil Congress
Apart from the Copenhagen and Stavanger roundtables McLaren have been touring Calgary, visiting customers and prospects and exhibiting at the World Heavy Oil Congress. http://www.worldheavyoilcongress.com/
KIM 2011 Knowledge Management in Oil & Gas Conference
In April we were at the KIM 2011 Knowledge Management in Oil & Gas Conference in Aberdeen Scotland
http://www.kimoilandgas.com
More events and recordings can be found on our new website a www.mclaremsoftware.com.
Copenhagen and Stavanger Roundtable
Co-hosted by I.R.I.S and IBM McLaren were joined by engineering, IT and Document Control professionals from 16 companies to review case studies and exchange ideas on engineering document control best practice. Appreciated by all these two hour roundtable sessions together with an excellent meal provided a excellent networking opportunity and thought provoking forum. If you are interested in hosting a roundtable in your area please let us know.
McLaren Business Analytics – Dashboards
With McLaren Dashboards the status of the many document processes can now be graphically displayed providing an immediate overview, with drill downs and links to individual work packages. Dashboards provide a valuable oversight of a project or operational status of an asset.
Dashboards can be displayed in SharePoint, Microsoft Outlook, McLaren Work Manager or via any web browser.
SharePoint Collaboration
Enterprise Engineer now supports Microsoft SharePoint to provide collaboration on a single or set of documents or drawings. An example business scenario is an engineering team working with design, project and general business documents in their controlled environment. They need to collaborate with people outside the project team. This integration avoids the overhead and risk of human error when the process is to manually export to temporary areas and then upload/copy to/from SharePoint sites.
Once the collaboration cycle is complete the documents or drawings are added back to a Enterprise Engineer controlled lifecycle and the SharePoint site archived for audit or reference. Meta data is automatically kept in sync
Document Access Portal / Document Access Client
A thin web client ideal for users requiring access to approved as-built asset or project documentation. User authentication ensures individual users view documentation associated with their individual access rights preserving both security and integrity of the documentation. The document access supports PDF viewing with other formats optional including DWF, TIFF etc and includes pre-emptive search suggestions for quick access.
In the Labs – Android Mobile or Tablet PC Access
Based on a variant of the Document Access client users can take advantage of the integrity of an Enterprise Engineer from an Android mobile or tablet pc. Authenticated Enterprise Engineer users are able to search, browse and view documents or drawings in .pdf format.
For a demonstration please contact us.
Document Controller Client including Content Loader
Designed especially for Document Controllers this version of McLaren Work Manager allows a document controller to create tasks, work packs (review and approval), manage CAD files and batch and bulk load documents and drawings. Content loader is a new easy to use utility ideal for general / daily use – handle small to large import batches synchronizing both native and document and drawing renditions. Support for CAD XRefs & Hybrid files is due in the next release..
Appointments / Promotions
Paul Cheetham Director, Customer Experience – Paul first joined McLaren in 1999 as a support analyst progressing quickly through Product management and onto Director of Engineering. Well known to many and popular with all our customers Paul now assumes the responsibility of ensuring we are meeting if not exceeding expectations and smoothing out any bumps in the road we may encounter.
Alicia Doyle Pre-Sales Manager – Joining McLaren as a Business Analyst in 2008 Alicia now takes on the role of pre-sales manager where her industry & Technical knowledge and attention to detail are appreciated by all.
How to contact us:
Web: www.mclarensoftware.com
Email: info@mclarensoftware.com
Phone:
(US) +1 713 357 4710
(UK) +44 (0)141 227 7600
(Germany) +49 (0)2102 420880
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