Document Management

One of the biggest challenges of managing complex business infrastructure is relating big data to the ERP system’s relational dataset. There are often items such as CAD drawings, project documents, pictures, and other materials that need to be related to a quote, sales order, or work order. Since the ERP software does not generate these pieces of data, they are usually shuffled off to a folder on a server with a semi-meaningful name in hopes that if they are ever needed again, they can be found. This inevitably creates an endless cycle of searching for relevant documents after any meaningful amount of time passes and issues arise. You’ve probably experienced this exact situation and can imagine how integrating document management into an ERP system can bring about numerous advantages.

ALERE provides several means of creating and managing links to big data within the system. The ability to link to big data provides users with a means to do things like point to CAD drawings from the BOM, relate inspection documentation to work orders, drive to project documents from quotes or sales orders, and link copies of supplier invoices to individual payables. It allows you to use a natural, easily located, document within the ERP system to find that item that might otherwise be in a filing cabinet or the deepest recesses of your file server.

Document management functions also double as knowledge management, which has become increasingly important in the last several years. It allows information such as a video or operator’s manual to be tied to an operation step on a route to demonstrate to users how to perform a complex job set-up or run a piece of equipment. It can also be used to proffer access to any SDS’s that might be used during that route step in case of emergency.

ALERE’s document management functions eliminate the constant search for external documents while eliminating the hassle of indexing the data with an outside program.