SAP Solution Brief SAP Business Suite SAP Extended Enterprise Content Management by Open Text

Realizing the Value of Connecting Enterprise Content

Optimizing Plant Performance with SAP Extended ECM

The SAP Extended Enterprise Content Management application by Open Text bridges the gap between SAP structured data and unstructured content. For capital-intensive industries, this contributes to improved productivity, reliability, compliance, and worker safety and reduces costs and environmental impact.

Workers in asset-intensive enterprises such as power and processing plants face a rising flood of unstructured content e-mail messages, documentation, and more which is becoming increasingly difficult to manage. Of more concern is the loss of productivity or unnecessary downtime due to the inability to access critical information in a timely manner. The problem: enterprise applications that support core business processes excel at managing highly structured, transactional information, but they do not typically connect unstructured content such as equipment specifications, maintenance records, service contracts, drawings, and manuals to the transaction. The SAP Extended Enterprise Content Management (SAP Extended ECM) application by Open Text changes this. SAP Extended ECM helps you tap into the value of unstructured content to boost productivity and provide easier access to important information for improved enterprise asset management. The software helps you connect enterprise content to increase collaboration and knowledge management, leading to efficiency improvements (see Figure). Within industrial environments, this results in higher equipment reliability and shorter maintenance outages.

Realizing the Value of Connecting Content to Processes

SAP Extended ECM is integrated with SAP Business Suite applications and provides unified, 360-degree access to transactional and unstructured content in a choice of interfaces. SAP software users have access via standard SAP interfaces, making it easier for them to learn and use the full range of SAP Extended ECM functionality. You can also extend access to users of SAP and non-SAP content via the applications Web interface thus including users in the overall process when relevant, without giving them unnecessary or inappropriate access to SAP enterprise applications. Content is stored with an appropriate structure, and key data attributes are associated with the documents. This functionality enables the user to navigate or search to readily find the content associated with a customer, supplier, equipment, or part in SAP software. You can also use the software to support the scanning and digitization of paper documentation, reducing reliance on paper processes and lowering physical storage needs and costs. The software also supports bar-code recognition, enabling quick input of paper-based information.

Enable consistent docu ment handling and inte gration with Microsoft Office

en ntte n Co

b riched usiness

D Ma ocu na m ge e m

n t nt e

Content access
Business S u

pr o

ce

Co lla

ss
es

Provide secure native access for users of SAP and non-SAP software Empower teams with internal and external users to collaborate efficiently Define, control, and accelerate decision processes Consolidate repositories and storage management

outside the physical boundaries of your facility. SAP Extended ECM allows you to engage and collaborate with all of the appropriate stakeholders, both within and beyond the organization. For internal projects, SAP Extended ECM enables collaboration among team members with rich functionality that supports project-team work spaces, discussion forums, and collaborative-approval workflows, tasks, and polls. For projects including external stakeholders, SAP Extended ECM extends that functionality, allowing you to set up a secure extranet environment and work spaces in which to share documents. Because the interface is Webbased, all your partners need is an Internet connection, a browser, and their user name and password to be integrated into your processes.

ion rat bo

Control the content and reduce compliance costs

M Recor an d age s m en t

e hiv Arc

Leverage deep integration with SAP software to content-enable business processes

Figure: Content-Enriched Business Processes with SAP Extended ECM

Con ten C en t tric Wo rkflow

Automate filing and indexing

AP

Business process platform based on SAP solutions

ite

Optimizing Plant Maintenance Activities

Reducing outages and increasing reliability are key objectives of every asset-centric organization, but they are highly challenging to achieve. Plant maintenance activities are contentdependent and, if not managed carefully, can bottleneck operations. With SAP Extended ECM, plant maintenance workers and managers can find the information they need in context with maintenance processes to sustain momentum during a shutdown. Engineers and technicians can store and later retrieve data and documents from analysis, testing, and maintenance work. Maintenance planners can collect, organize, and securely store information in back-end SAP software, establishing a clear link to equipment, material, and transactions in the soft-

ure Capt

ware. They can more easily analyze information to determine what improvements need to occur to shorten the duration of outages and reduce downtime. Beyond data files, you can also leverage the software to manage the lifecycle of items such as certificates and permits to maintain tight control of all plant assets. You can more easily retrieve root cause analysis documentation to identify patterns, predict potential future outcomes, and influence maintenance plans to reduce the number of environmental incidents and production upsets.

Leveraging Enterprise Records Management

Equipment typically found in industrial plants, such as pressure vessels and valves, furnaces, and heavy machinery, all come with a risk of injury, fatality, or environmental impact. Private citizens have high expectations for industrial responsibility, while government regulations require increased diligence, testing, and documentation. Keeping accurate corporate records is no longer optional, but it can be difficult without the proper tools. SAP Extended ECM meets this challenge. The software provides in-depth records management functionality so you can fully document and manage the lifecycle of enterprise content. Records can be declared in accordance with legislative requirements, demonstrating compliance and showing how your or-

Enabling Internal and External Collaboration

Business processes can run across departments, divisions, regions, and even among different organizations

ganization adheres to required records management practices including retention, change control, access, and ultimately destruction of content at the end of its lifecycle. The software can

SAP Extended ECM helps you tap into the value of unstructured content to improve productivity and provide easier access to important information.
be configured to classify documents automatically, thus supporting consistency and accuracy, and complies with the U.S. Department of Defense directive 5015.2 for records management.

upgrade or migration. Archiving minimizes system downtime during the upgrade, minimizes the size of the upgraded database, and optimizes the performance of the upgraded system. SAP Extended ECM is integrated with the SAP NetWeaver Information Lifecycle Management component and is a preferred archiving solution to complement that data extraction method.

Risk avoidance benefits include: Reduced regulatory risk with indepth records management functionality so you can fully document and retrieve the lifecycle of enterprise content Improved records management consistency and accuracy of content through automatic addition of classifications to documents IT benefits include: Reduced total cost of ownership because the software is powered by the SAP NetWeaver technology platform and uses SAP user management tools to minimize administrative overhead Reduced IT operating costs through data archiving to compress content, eliminate duplicates, and therefore reduce storage costs Streamlined software upgrades by archiving data and documents to minimize downtime and database size, optimizing storage requirements and system performance

Connecting Content to Yield Benefits

SAP Extended ECM connects unstructured content to structured transactions in SAP software, enabling you to realize the following advantages. Strategic benefits include: Improved productivity and organizational responsiveness by avoiding the need to log on to multiple systems in search of information related to transactions Improved reliability and reduced maintenance outages by simplifying the process of collecting, storing, and retrieving plant maintenance content Improved internal and external collaboration through rich functionality such as project-team work spaces, discussion forums, collaborative approval workflows, tasks, polls, and secure extranet environments Improved operational control by enabling the distribution of information over time, such as equipment histories and failure-cause analysis, to establish patterns, predict future outcomes, and develop improvement plans More sustainable business practices by reducing the need for physical documentation and related recordsretention storage space and asso ciated expenses

Archiving Enterprise Data and Documents

IT departments constantly battle with the need for increased storage capacity to manage the huge volume of both structured and unstructured content generated by users on a daily basis. SAP Extended ECM includes archiving functionality that allows the off-loading of data and documents into an archive from within the software and from production SAP databases. This functionality significantly reduces content storage costs, database backup time, and the need for additional hardware, while improving production-system performance. Supporting Migrations and Upgrades Archiving functionality also supports IT efforts by providing a means to archive data and documents before a software

Find Out More

For more information about how you can use SAP Extended ECM to improve document management and reduce costs, please call your SAP representative or visit us online at www.sap.com/solutions /solutionextensions/index.epx.

Quick facts

www.sap.com /contactsap

Summary The SAP Extended Enterprise Content Management application by Open Text helps industrial plants access and manage all forms of content, enabling you to improve productivity and gain a comprehensive view of key business processes regardless of content source. Business Challenges Share and learn from disparate information to help reduce planned and unplanned downtime Increase access to key documents, enabling better equipment maintenance and improved reliability Adhere to government regulations for records management Key Features Content creation and access Enable software users to store, retrieve, and improve content, allowing them to brainstorm, develop, share, comment on, and approve any type of unstructured content; quickly retrieve content from any authorized source; and view it through a choice of desktop interfaces Integration with SAP software Embed unstructured content to enrich any process supported by SAP software, with related metadata automatically uploaded Content archiving Store key historical content in a secure archive Scanning Scan paper documents and add them into the enterprise content repository Records management Control the complete lifecycle of unstructured enterprise content with functionality compliant with the U.S. Department of Defense directive 5015.2 Business Benefits Increase content-centric process efficiency by making unstructured content readily accessible within the context of business processes and transactions Increase the productivity of business users by fostering collaboration and eliminating the time wasted to find or recreate unstructured content Minimize the risk associated with unstructured content by controlling its complete lifecycle Slash costs by digitizing paper documents, thus reducing physical storage requirements, decreasing database backup time, and optimizing system performance Leverage the power of SAP software to deliver accurate content from across your organization into your business processes For More Information Call your SAP representative, or visit us online at www.sap.com/solutions/solutionextensions/index.epx.

50 099 055 (10/04) Printed in USA. 2010 by SAP AG. SAP, R/3, SAP NetWeaver, Duet, PartnerEdge, ByDesign, Clear Enterprise, SAP BusinessObjects Explorer, and other SAP products and services mentioned herein as well as their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP AG in Germany and other countries. Business Objects and the Business Objects logo, BusinessObjects, Crystal Reports, Crystal Decisions, Web Intelligence, Xcelsius, and other Business Objects products and services mentioned herein as well as their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP France in the United States and in other countries. All other product and service names mentioned are the trademarks of their respective companies. Data contained in this document serves informational purposes only. National product specifications may vary. These materials are subject to change without notice. These materials are provided by SAP AG and its affiliated companies (SAP Group) for informational purposes only, without represen tation or warranty of any kind, and SAP Group shall not be liable for errors or omissions with respect to the materials. The only warranties for SAP Group products and services are those that are set forth in the express warranty statements accompanying such products and services, if any. Nothing herein should be construed as constituting an additional warranty.