Electronic document management tutorial

THE GATEWAY GROUP
Electronic Document Management Tutorial
The Functional Architecture of an EDM System
In the Process and Manufacturing Industries

Document 1182001 Revision : A Pages: 111 in Total
Prepared by: Glen B. Alleman Date: 8 Apr 97 Reviewed by:
Signature: Signature:
Authors, Approvals, and Reviews

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Electronic Document Management
Table of Contents
1. Business Strategy Approach to EDM...............................................................................7
1.1. Why an EDM System? ........................................................................................................7
1.2. Why an EDM Strategy?.......................................................................................................8
1.3. Scope of the EDM Strategy .................................................................................................8
1.4. Purpose of the EDM Strategy ..............................................................................................9
1.5. Defining the EDM Strategy ..................................................................................................9
1.6. Fitting the EDM Strategy with Corporate Goals..................................................................10
1.7. EDM Concepts and the I/S Strategy ..................................................................................10
1.8. Critical Success Factors for the EDM System....................................................................11
1.8.1. Critical Success Factors for Manufacturing and Process Industries.........................12
1.8.2. Strategic Benefits of Electronic Document Management ........................................13
1.8.3. Common Business Activities ..................................................................................14
1.8.4. Common I/S Functions...........................................................................................14
1.8.5. Existing I/S Strategic Investments..........................................................................15
1.9. End User EDM Vision........................................................................................................15
1.9.1. Engineering EDM Vision.........................................................................................17
1.9.2. Quality Assurance EDM Vision...............................................................................18
1.9.3. Maintenance EDM Vision .......................................................................................20
1.9.4. Records Management EDM Vision.........................................................................20
1.9.5. Office Technology EDM Vision...............................................................................21
1.10. Company I/S EDM Vision...........................................................................................21
1.10.1. Vision for I/S ..........................................................................................................22
1.10.2. Vision of I/S Customers..........................................................................................22
1.11. EDM Deployment Strategy.........................................................................................22
2. EDM Background and Terminology ...............................................................................23
2.1. Philosophical Goal of an EDM System ..............................................................................23
2.2. Motivations for EDM at a Process or Manufacturing Facility ..............................................23
2.3. Target Business Applications.............................................................................................24
2.4. Common Attributes of an EDM System .............................................................................25
2.4.1. Management of Controlled Documents...................................................................25
2.4.2. Management of Uncontrolled Documents...............................................................25
2.5. Technical Attributes of the EDM System............................................................................26
2.5.1. Functions of an EDM System .................................................................................27
2.5.2. New Technology Attributes.....................................................................................30
2.6. What is a Document..........................................................................................................31
2.6.1. What is a Document in the Electronic World? Case 1: Drawings ............................32
2.6.2. What is a Document in the Electronic World? Case 2: Procedures.........................33
2.7. Document Life Cycles........................................................................................................34
2.8. Document Relationships....................................................................................................37
2.8.1. Definition of Document Object Relationships..........................................................38
2.8.2. Definition of a Document Object.............................................................................39
2.8.3. Business Model......................................................................................................41
2.9. Foldering: Ad Hoc Document Organization........................................................................42
2.10. What is a Record .......................................................................................................43
2.11. Document Hierarchy ..................................................................................................44
3. Information Model ...........................................................................................................47
3.1. EDM Conceptual Framework.............................................................................................48
3.1.1. Elements of the Conceptual Framework.................................................................50
3.2. Business Model .................................................................................................................51
3.3. Document Model ...............................................................................................................53
3.3.1. Promotion Model....................................................................................................54

3.3.2. Index Model ...........................................................................................................58
3.4. Object Storage / Location Model........................................................................................60
3.5. Authoring Model ................................................................................................................61
3.6. Change Management Model..............................................................................................61
3.6.1. Change Management Process State Diagram ........................................................63
4. EDM System High–Level Requirements.........................................................................65
4.1. EDM System Attributes......................................................................................................65
4.1.1. Simple EDM Architecture .......................................................................................65
4.1.2. EDM High–Level System Components...................................................................67
4.1.3. EDM Authoring Functionality..................................................................................70
4.1.4. EDM Post Authoring Functionality ..........................................................................70
4.1.5. EDM System Behavior ...........................................................................................75
4.1.6. Description of the Three (3) Data Model Layers......................................................76
4.1.7. Document Formats.................................................................................................82
4.1.8. Change Management Functionality ........................................................................83
4.1.9. Change Request Processing ..................................................................................87
4.1.10. MOC Data Model ...................................................................................................90
4.1.11. MOC Process Flow.................................................................................................90
4.1.12. MOC Application User Interface .............................................................................91
4.1.13. MOC Reporting ......................................................................................................93
4.1.14. New Technology Attributes.....................................................................................93
5. EDM System Vendor Requirements ...............................................................................97
5.1. Instructions to the EDM Vendor .........................................................................................97
5.1.1. Vendor Requirements Matrix Contents ...................................................................97
5.2. EDM System Requirements Matrix....................................................................................98
6. Glossary of Terms.........................................................................................................109

Table of Figures
Figure 1.1 – Functions of the EDM System................................................................................26
Figure 1.2 – Management of Change Process...........................................................................29
Figure 1–1 – What is a Drawing?...............................................................................................32
Figure 1–2 – What is a Procedure? ...........................................................................................33
Figure 1–3 – State Diagram for Controlled Drawings .................................................................35
Figure 1–4 – Example Document Relationships ........................................................................37
Figure 1–5 – Table of Document Relationships .........................................................................38
Figure 1–6 – Document Relationship Categories .......................................................................39
Figure 1–7 – Document Object Model .......................................................................................40
Figure 1–8 – Document Addressing Modes ...............................................................................40
Figure 1–9 – Business Model Excerpt........................................................................................41
Figure 1–10 – Folders Containing Folders and other Documents...............................................42
Figure 1–11 – Hierarchy of Folders............................................................................................43
Figure 1–12 – Document Hierarchy ...........................................................................................45
Figure 2–1 – EDM Information Models ......................................................................................48
Figure 2–2 – Conceptual Framework for the EDM System.........................................................50
Figure 2–3 – Business Model (Strawman)..................................................................................52
Figure 2–4 – Document Model...................................................................................................53
Figure 2–5 – Promotion Model – Email/Form Based..................................................................55
Figure 2–6 – Promotion Model – Workflow Based .....................................................................56
Figure 2–7 – Promotion Model – Collaboration Based ...............................................................57
Figure 2–8 – Index Model..........................................................................................................58
Figure 2–9 – Object Storage Model ...........................................................................................60
Figure 2–10 – Change Management Model ...............................................................................62
Figure 2–11 – Change Management State Diagram ..................................................................64
Figure 3–1 – High Level View of the EDM System.....................................................................66
Figure 3–2 – Components of the EDM System..........................................................................67
Figure 3–3 – Post Authoring Interactions of the EDM System. ..................................................71
Figure 3–4 – Data Entities in the EDM System ..........................................................................77
Figure 3–5 – States of Data Entities in the EDM System ...........................................................80
Figure 3–6 – Change Management Process ..............................................................................87

1. A STRATEGIC APPROACH TO EDM
This tutorial describes the foundations of an Electronic Document Management System (EDMS)
which is deployed in the process or manufacturing industries. The target application for a typical
system is not specified in any detail, nor is the underlying software and hardware. This tutorial is
aimed at the concepts of an EDM System, rather than at any specific solution for a particular
environment. It is also assumed that the high intrinsic value of engineering, quality, operations
and maintenance documents alone justifies the deployment of the EDM System in the process
and manufacturing industries.
At time the focus of the Tutorial will become detailed, with the emphasis on the business
processes being performed by the EDM System. There are specific examples for regulatory
compliance activities, engineering design review, ISO 9000 document control and the
management of change for any class of controlled documents. These details are provided to
given the reader as sense of the scope of effort necessary for a successful deployment.
Not all readers will relate when the later material becomes technical. However, this first section
is focused on the strategic approach to understanding the EDM System. This subject material is
vital to the understanding of the later technical components and the reader should become
familiar with these concepts before proceeding with the more technical aspects of the tutorial.
1.1. WHY AN EDM SYSTEM?
Most manufacturing, process plants and production facilities create and use from tens of
thousands to several million pages of documentation during the course of their business every
year. The majority of these documents exist in the form of paper, although they may be have
been created using a computer authoring tool. Many of these documents can be classified as
technical documents, since they are used in the engineering, testing, maintenance and operation
of the business process.
The generation of technical documents has usually been the performed using CAD and word
processing and has increased the individual productivity of the author. However, this
documentation has not significantly reduced the effort necessary to produce products or to
design, install and maintain the equipment and processes used to produce products.
The deployment of an Electronic Document Management system will address the underlying
sources of this lack of productivity:
(a) The information in these documents is created and managed through the efforts of
individuals, without an overall corporate strategy for the creation and management
of these documents.
(b) Documents are created using a variety of authoring tools. This approach prevents
many of the documents from being shared outside the organization that created
them.
(c) Documents are indexed and filed by the organization and sometimes the individual
that created them. In some cases there are public repositories for documents, but
in general access to corporate information is only provided to those individuals
who know where the documents reside.
In order to identify the solutions to these document management issues, a strategy for deploying
a system will be introduced.

1.2. WHY AN EDM STRATEGY?
Strategies are intellectually simple; their execution is not.
[1]
The Electronic Document Management (EDM) Strategy is an implementation independent
system design framework, intended to provide the flexibility to assemble EDM software products
in a manner which best suits the business needs of the company, while providing access to
corporate documents and related data by all authorized users. These corporate documents
should be seen as data that is shared across the business processes. These documents are
valuable corporate resources and are not owned by one business unit or individual.
The EDM strategy promotes the interoperability
[2]
and operability
[3]
of software products that
consist of programs, transactions and databases. This strategy is not an architecture for these
programs, transitions and databases, but is a road map for providing the underlying solution.
[4]
1.3. SCOPE OF THE EDM STRATEGY
The scope of the EDM Strategy is usually defined during the initial engagement between the
technology providers and the technology users. The business units, which will be targets of the
EDM System, can be determined through a Business Case Analysis, which identifies the
financial benefits to the organization of each document automation activity.
Within these business organizations, controlled documents are usually generated, used, and
stored by the following departments:
(a) Engineering – product design documentation, facilities to manufacture products
and the infrastructure to support the manufacturing facilities.
(b) Research and Development (Technical Documents) – documents that describe the
prototypes of products, the procedures for constructing thee prototypes and the
design basis calculations used to develop the prototype.
(c) Maintenance – equipment and process support instructions.
(d) Environmental Controls and/or Regulatory Compliance – materials used in the
process are accounted for and described according to the guidelines of the
regulatory agencies.
(e) Records Management – maintenance, production, parametric data, material
quantities all have record information associated with individual documents.
(f) Office Technology – process correspondence, management information, corporate
policies, customer correspondence.
1
“The CEO as Coach: An interview with AlliedSignal’s Lawrence A. Bossidy”, N. M. Tichy and R.
Charan, Harvard Business Review, March–April, 1994, pp. 68–78.
2
Interoperability is the ability to connect document aware software products irrespective of their
suppliers or vintage, to provide access to corporate documentation.
3
Operability is the ability to efficiently and cost effectively manage and control the deployment,
administration, execution and use access to a loosely coupled set of software products,
irrespective of the suppliers to meet the performance, availability, reliability and security
objectives of business organization.
4
“The BellCore OSCA Architecture,” Technical Advisory, TA–STS–000915, Issue 3, March 1992.

The following departments, business units, and activities are usually not addressed by the EDM
Strategy:
(g) Documents and activities involved in the business data processing.
(h) Documents not considered controlled information.
1.4. PURPOSE OF THE EDM STRATEGY
This document defines the vision of an Electronic Document Management system to be
employed throughout the business organization. The EDM System will provide for the electronic
management of corporate documents in conjunction with existing business data processing
systems.
This document is not meant to be an all inclusive description of an EDM system, rather it is the
road map for defining an actual EDM system and deploying it within the business organization.
This document is written as a high level description of the EDM system, its initial benefits, and
costs. Beyond this EDM Strategy are several other documents that are usually produced during
an EDM project including: System Requirements Analysis (SRA), Functional Requirements
Analysis (FRA) and Technical System Design (TSD), Implementation Plan (IP), Procurement
and Installation Plan (PIP).
This document contains several sections, including:
(a) Core Business Strategy – which describes the motivations for the EDM system,
the architectural vision of deployed system.
(b) Attributes of an EDM System – which describes the hardware and software
components of an EDM system and its application to the various business
organizations.
(c) Core Information Technology Strategy – which describes the technology, required
to deploy an EDM system in the business environment.
(d) Identified Strategic Applications – which describes the target business
organizations to receive EDM.
1.5. DEFINING THE EDM STRATEGY
In order to formulate a strategy for the deployment of an EDM system, two dimensions must be
considered:
[5]
(a) Breadth – the scope of applications, processes, or systems that will be addressed
by the EDM strategy must be defined. A process can be defined as narrow as a
single activity or single function or as broad as the entire business. The EDM
strategy addresses specific processes within specific business units.
The management of controlled documents is most often the breadth of the EDM
system.
(b) Depth – the success of the EDM strategy, on a broad scale, requires the
restructuring of the key business components. The measure of the depth of the
strategy can be characterized by the amount of:
(1) roles and responsibilities of the management in the effected organizations;
(2) the affect on the information technology infrastructure;
5
“How to Make Reengineering Really Work,” G. Hall, J. Rosenthal and J. Wade, Harvard
Business Review, November–December, 1993, pp. 119–131.

(3) the measurement and incentives that will affect the outcome of the
deployment;
(4) the extent of shared value in the affected organizations; and
(5) the skill sets in the affected organizations and their ability to manage both
the technical and non–technical aspects of the deployment.
1.6. FITTING THE EDM STRATEGY WITH CORPORATE GOALS
The Electronic Document Management System will support the business organization’s strategic
objectives in the following manner:
(a) People – consistent and reliable delivery of documents will provide enhanced
communication between the personnel tasked with producing products and the
authors of the documentation.
(b) Safety – by controlling the creation and distribution of safety–related
documentation the business organization will continue to assure the highest levels
of workplace safety.
(c) Quality – by improving the clarity and availability of documentation and work
instructions, appropriate work processes will be performed as planned and with
fewer errors. In business organizations that are participates in ISO 9000
certifications, this component of the EDM Strategy is a critical success factor.
(d) Service – by providing on–line documentation to the point of use, service to both
internal and external customers will be improved.
(e) Productivity – by reducing the time and effort required to search for the correct
documentation, productivity improvements can be made without expending
additional resources.
1.7. EDM CONCEPTS AND THE I/S STRATEGY
Documents perform a vital role in the production and sale of a business’s products. The
management of these documents usually takes place through the efforts of the employees and
the procedures defined by the corporate and departmental level management.
As the creation and distribution of documents becomes increasingly dependent on computer
technology, the Electronic Document Management system becomes a vital link in the operation
of each business unit.
Documents are essential to the operation of the business for three (3) reasons:
(a) Documents are the means through which information is captured, managed, and
controlled. They are the means by which essential information is developed and
conveyed throughout the business organization.
(b) Documents form the core of every business process. They are the method by which
interfaces between business functions are formed and managed. They are the
means by which people interact to accomplish the goals of the organization.
(c) Documents for the basis of the business knowledge needed to produce products.
Documents create the means by which an organization conducts its business.
What is Document Management? There are several applicable definitions, which can be applied
to the manufacturing and process industries:
(a) Document Management is ... a highly integrated set of middleware services that
integrate library services, document creation and document interchange with critical

business process applications built around a client/server topology using open
application interfaces.
[6]
(b) Document Management is ... a software system that is capable of organizing
document production, managing accessibility and distribution of documents and
overseeing the flow of these documents.
[7]
The I/S EDM strategy is to:
(a) Provide the underlying infrastructure of the networking and platform facilities
required for the EDM system.
(b) Provide the architectural guidance for the selection and installation of the software
applications required for the EDM system.
(c) Provide the necessary resources to support the infrastructure and related computing
resources needed to deliver the EDM system requirements to the end user
community. This includes:
(1) Data modeling of the business process.
(2) Process modeling of the business process.
(3) Definition and support of document management standards for those
components of the EDM system that are shared throughout the business
organization.
(4) Support and maintenance of the client/server components shared by all
users of the EDM system.
1.8. CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS FOR THE EDM SYSTEM
The concept of Critical Success Factors (CSF) Analysis was first formulated by John Rockart at
MIT in the 1982.
[8]
The main steps of the CSF are:
(a) Identify the most critical components, facilities and processes of the enterprise,
which will make the enterprise successful.
(b) Define the application systems, business data and business rules for each business
process, which will support the critical success factors.
(c) Analyze, evaluate, and justify the proposed application systems.
An Electronic Document Management System can provide for the creation, control, and
distribution of almost any form or type of document. The question is what types of documents
should be managed inside business organization?
6
Office Information Systems Strategic Analysis Report, The Gartner Group, September 3, 1993.
7
“Workgroup Application Systems,” Document Management Software market Review and
Forecast, International Data Corporation, May, 1993.
8
“The Changing Role of the Information Systems Executive: A Critical Success Factors
Perspective,” J. Rockart, Sloan Management Review, Volume 24, Number 1, 1982, pp. 3–13.

This focus is best stated as...
A business can be made more valuable by making low intellectual content
activities effortless and high intellectual content activities more functional and
available to knowledge workers at every level... if an organization has not
eliminated clerical office activities almost entirely from job descriptions, it will
suffer from poor customer service, poor use of its information assets, longer
times to market and higher operating costs.
[9]
1.8.1. Critical Success Factors for Manufacturing and Process Industries
The Critical Success Factors for the EDM system deployed in manufacturing and process
industries include:
(a) Reduction of cycle time for work activities involving the production, handling,
distribution, and use of paper–based documents and drawings.
[10]
(b) Simplification of the paper–based work processes associated with the production of
products, the design of the manufacturing process and the support of the installed
process or manufacturing equipment.
(c) Reduction of plant downtime by making the necessary engineering, operations and
maintenance documentation available on–line and readily available to the
appropriate maintenance and operations personnel.
(d) Reduction or elimination of the cost associated with paper–based processes,
including copying and filming of documents for distribution and reference. This
reduction will be applied across the board for all controlled paper–based processes.
(e) Improved document security since the document images are never removed from
storage.
(f) Establishment of stable procedures associated with the manufacturing process,
including standard operating procedures, work instructions and any associated
operational documentation.
(g) Improved quality for all documents resulting from the audit, change control and work
flow automation capabilities of the system. These facilities will provide a reduction in
the content, reproduction, and distribution processes. The use of outdated
information is reduced when all users are ensured access to the same revision of the
document.
(h) Decreased cost for modifying documents, since all documentation is available on–
line there is no need to re–create the document when it can not be found.
(i) Integration with maintenance and production management system. By delivering
images of maintenance manuals and supporting documents, the existing paper–
based system for the distribution and maintenance of equipment documentation can
be replaced.
(j) Establishment of a networking system capable of supporting the EDM system. This
includes providing document management cache servers connected to segments of
the network without impacting other portions or the enterprise. On demand printing
provides a point if use for the correct documentation. Work procedures, maintenance
9
Office Information Systems Strategic Analysis Report, The Gartner Group, September 3, 1993.
10
Throughout this specification, the term document shall be taken to mean documents and
drawings.

documents, engineering drawings and product manufacturing information can be
delivered on demand rather than through the normal distribution channels.
1.8.2. Strategic Benefits of Electronic Document Management
There are three (3) types of information in use in most manufacturing and process facilities.
(a) Records–based information kept in databases, either electronic or manual. This
information represents the way in which the business organization deals with
customers, suppliers, product personnel and processes. This information is usually
structured and created through a documented process.
(b) Automation–based information, is usually created with computer based tools. This
information is created and shared between members of various business
departments. This information is usually unstructured and represents the content of
the manufacturing process. In some cases, structure is available in the form of
design and construction information, but the method of producing this information is
usually ad hoc and driven by the business needs of organization.
(c) Knowledge–based information, usually created through the same process as (a) and
(b), but has significantly different attributes.
This information:
(1) Is key to business organization’s ability to acquire and maintain its
competitive advantage, from its document based processes, including: R&D,
Engineering and Maintenance.
(2) Posses exceptional value to business organization, since this information
represents the design basis and as–built configuration of the manufacturing
or process facilities.
(3) Exists for the life of the manufacturing process or facility.
(4) Are reused many times during the life of the process or facility and forms the
basis for new knowledge–based information for future processes and
facilities.
This knowledge–based information increases in value with time, since it is the
information that contains the knowledge of how the business produces its products.
This information is constructed during the design process and therefore contains
the essence of the design.
With the third type (c) of information placed in the EDM system the following business
advantages are made available to business organization:
(a) Shorter time to market – by increasing the productivity of the users of the
information, business decisions can be made quicker, design decisions can be
reviewed and approved faster, products can be deployed quicker. Several barriers
currently exist which lengthen the time to market for document–based products:
(1) Lack of control over the life cycle of a document. For every change to a
document, whether through a change in the design of a product component
or a change in the equipment used to produce the product, a manual
process is most often used to review and approve this change.
(2) The inability to integrate various types of information on a single desktop
workstation restricts the organization’s ability to create and distribute
information related to the design and production of products. There is usually
no corporate–wide mechanism for sharing and reusing information
generated by departments and subcontractors.

(3) Islands of document automation usually exist, making it difficult to assemble
information. The isolation of the information generating activity creates the
opportunity to release documents with inaccurate or incomplete information.
(4) The ability to find accurate and timely information is restricted by the
computing infrastructure in place today.
(b) Improved Quality – by managing the production, review, and distribution of all
controlled documents, the quality of documentation process can be improved.
(c) Lower Costs – by removing unnecessary activities from the daily business process,
the cost of production can be lowered. By improving the accuracy and velocity of
information available to the organization’s employees, the amount of productive
work per hour invested will improve.
(d) Establishing a Design Basis – by capturing and indexing engineering, production and
maintenance information, the foundation of the design and operation of the product
production processes can be communicated to both internal and external
organizations, in a concise, reliable and controlled manner.
1.8.3. Common Business Activities
The success of an EDM deployment at the business depends on several factors, including:
(a) A common desktop environment and architecture.
(b) On–line access to applications and information needed to perform work without the
knowledge of the information location.
(c) A standardized and easy to operate User Interface.
11
(d) The availability of personnel productivity tools.
(e) The automation and reduction of paperwork associated with each business activity.
(f) Integrated analysis and design applications in Engineering (or Technical Functions).
(g) A common set of work management tools which form the basis of information
sharing, including E–Mail, document viewing, printing, work flow, and authoring
tools.
1.8.4. Common I/S Functions
The EDM strategy is based on the use of open platforms for all hardware and software
components of the system. For the purposes of a strategic plan the following definition will be
used:
An open system is one in which the components (of the system) and their
composition are specified in a non–proprietary environment, enabling competing
vendors (of the system components) to use those standard components to build
cooperative systems.
[12]
Using this definition, the functionality provided by I/S in support of the EDM system must include:
11
The specification of attributes of the system using terms such as easy to operate, User
friendly, high performance, reliable, should be avoided at all times. The attributes of the system
should be specified in quantitative terms, which have specific measures, which can be used to
compare the various alternatives. Although this advice is given for writers of requirements
specifications, there will be many instances in this tutorial where the advice is not followed.
12
Open Systems, G. Nutt, Prentice–Hall, 1992.

(a) Hardware platform independence for applications and databases – the flexibility to
use the most cost–effective platform for the job will allow the business organization
to take advantage of an ever changing hardware market place, without a negative
impact on the current investment in software, training and data.
(b) Application independence from databases – by making use of SQL access to
information the underlying database technology can change over time with a
minimum impact on both the application and data environment.
(c) Distribution of information and applications as close as possible to the users – by
making information locally available to the end user, query and retrieval time
required is reduced to a minimum.
(d) Consolidating and normalizing information to eliminate redundancy and improve
data integrity. By constructing normalized data models with embedded business
rules, the intellectual value of the document relationships and the transactions that
created them can be maintained over the live of the project.
1.8.5. Existing I/S Strategic Investments
Several existing I/S strategic investments are associated with the success of the EDM system,
including:
(a) Financial Systems – the Business Reporting System, forms the basis of the benefit
measurement for EDM.
(b) Telecommunications Infrastructure – the existing network infrastructure must
adapt to the requirements of the EDM System. The architecture of the
telecommunications system hardware and software forms ground work for the
EDM system client/server architecture.
(c) Document Authoring Infrastructure – the existing CAD, Word processing and
Email environment provides direct support for the EDM project.
1.9. END USER EDM VISION
A Vision is a picture in ones mind of an idea or organization. A vision is an essential element in
the success of an organization. This section describes the vision of the EDM system, distinct
from the Mission of the EDM system.
[13]
These differences can be illustrated as:
Mission Statement Vision Statement
Today Tomorrow
Identifies the customer(s) Inspirational
Identifies the Critical Processes Provides clear decision–making criteria
Level of performance Timeless
Although they are often used interchangeably, mission and vision are distinctly different, each
with its own purpose, style, criteria and components. A vision is a state that is never achieved,
13
“Visioning: The Concept, Trilogy and Process,” J. R. Latham, Quality Progress, American
Society for Quality Control, April, 1995, pp. 65–70.

but will form the basis of all activities within the organization. Successful visions have three (3)
criteria:
[14]
(a) Timeless – visions are far reaching, they describe the corporation or system, as it
should be, not necessarily as it is going to be. It is unlikely that the vision of the EDM
system will ever be achieved, but articulating the vision will set the highest possible
goal for the system. All decisions regarding architecture, behavior and performance
of the system should be compared with the vision of the system. Progressive
realization of the vision is critical to the success of the overall process.
(b) Inspirational – it is inspiration that is behind the motivation to act. It is action toward
the vision that ultimately makes the vision a reality.
(c) Provides Clear Guidelines – a clear, concise and shared picture of the end result
provides the criteria for the decision making process. When the vision of the EDM
system is shared among all members of the business organization, the tactical
details of the implementation of the system become secondary to the overriding
goals of the organization. Everything is created twice: first in the mind, then in the
physical world.
[15]
The Vision for the EDM system in the manufacturing and process industries is that it will provide
the foundation for re–engineering the business processes in the following departments:
(a) Engineering – by significantly reducing the generation, handling, and consumption of
paper documents during the design, review, and construction process. By deploying
the EDM System, Engineering will be able to eliminate the storage and distribution
costs currently associated with the document release cycle.
(b) Research & Development – by consolidating the authoring, review and publication of
Specifications, Standards and Work Instructions, R&D can eliminate all redundant
operations in deploying these documents to the users.
(c) Maintenance – by providing electronic access to all equipment documentation,
Maintenance can eliminate all wasted effort currently expended in the search for
maintenance information and work instructions.
(d) Records Management – by consolidating the management of corporate records with
the control of the source documents referenced by these records, the EDM system
will consolidate two functions into one. The management of the controlled
information is usually provided separately from the physical storage and use of the
controlled documents. These functions could be consolidated inside the EDM
system, with the indexing and management controlled by a database application and
the physical capture, use and distribution provided by the facilities of the EDM
system.
(e) Office Technology – by providing electronic images of business records document
storage and distribution activities can be significantly reduced with an equivalent
reduction in this recurring expense. The capture, indexing, storage, and distribution
of business documents are a traditional application for an EDM system. A scanning
and indexing operation can replace the current microfilming and indexing (to the
mainframe) operation. Once scanned the documents can be delivered to the end
user through a workstation application, completely eliminating the need for microfilm
production, storage and distribution.
14
Teaching the Elephant to Dance, J. A Belasco, Crown Publishers, 1990.
15
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, S. R. Covey, Simon & Shuster, 1989.

1.9.1. Engineering EDM Vision
The Engineering activities of a process or manufacturing facility usually include:
(a) Generation of engineering drawings, calculations, specifications, standards, and
supporting documents.
(b) Review and approval of those documents.
(c) Publication and use of the documents and drawings by Production, Research and
Development, Maintenance and Operations.
During these processes, documents and drawings are generated in a variety of ways, including
CAD, Word processing, and manual drafting. Once the information has been generated, it is
placed in the Drawing Control System through a manual process. CAD drawings are maintained
in a centralized file system accessible from all CAD workstations. Paper drawings are maintained
in drawing tubs, stick files, or flat files in various locations through the business facility. Microfilm
copies of all drawings are sometimes produced and distributed to various locations.
The EDM System will provide the following functions for the Engineering Department:
(a) Centralization of all drawing capture and distribution activities. By providing both
electronic and paper capture of documentation and drawings, the EDM system will
provide a single electronic vault for all engineering information. This Electronic Vault
will enable Engineering to:
(1) Avoid duplication of drawings and documentation assuring only released
documents are made available to the user community.
(2) Provide a single approved for design information database for all equipment
and processes in use by the business.
(3) Provide a traceable clearing–house for all design changes.
(4) Provide a central repository for information required by outside consulting
firms.
(b) An electronic check–in and check–out process for all engineering documentation.
This facility will provide a controlled and secure process by which documents and
drawings are entered into the electronic vault. The EDM user can:
(1) Submit documents and drawings to the Electronic Vault using a standard
user interface. The Electronic Vault will manage both Work in Process (WIP)
and released drawings.
(2) Route WIP for review and approval, using E–Mail and work flow software.
(c) Document retrievals using an Engineering Department data model. This data model
will provide:
(1) A consistent organizational method for indexing and retrieving all documents
and drawings.
(2) The business rules for releasing documents created by the Engineering
department or the outside contractors.
(3) The business rules for making any changes to a released drawing or
document.
(d) A collection of Engineering Standards and Specifications that will be used for all
design, fabrication and operation processes within the business organization. These
standards and specifications will describe:
(1) The equipment, processes, standards and components that can be used in
the design process.
(2) The discipline specific standards to be used in the design and manufacturing
process.

(3) The local alterations or additions to the discipline–specific standards.
(e) A collection of design basis calculations, notes, and supporting documentation
created during the design and construction process. This information will be
maintained by the EDM system for reference during future design activities as well
as form the basis of the intellectual contribution of the Engineering department to the
operation of business organization.
(f) Software created and used by the various production test or process control
systems. This software will be stored as an object in the EDM – as if it were an
electronic document. The indexing, submittal, retrieval, and use of this software will
take place in the same manner as normal user–readable documentation.
(g) Information used by the Engineering modeling applications can originate as well as
be stored by the EDM system. This information includes:
(1) Design calculations.
(2) Data and programs for modeling the plant processes.
(3) Parametric information gathered from various sampling and control system
can be placed in the EDM system as electronic representations of data. This
information can then be forwarded to the modeling software for processing.
1.9.2. Quality Assurance EDM Vision
The management of documents in the Quality Assurance department is a critical business
function.
These document classes include,
(a) Specifications for recipes, formulas, processes, work instructions, test programs, etc.
(b) Test methods for each process.
(c) Organizational policies and procedures.
(d) QA reports, including:
(1) Test reports
(2) Quality reports
(3) Test plans
(e) Other documentation including:
(1) Defect manuals.
(2) Hand books.
Each of these document classes forms the basis of the Quality Assurance process. Most
document management activities currently taking place in the QA department follow industry
guidelines
[16]
developed and implemented in a variety of production environments:
(a) Management Responsibility: ... define, document and communicate its policy and
objectives for, and commitment to, quality; appoint management representatives for
periodic review to ensure continuing suitability of the quality system. The supplier
shall ensure the policy is understood, implemented, and maintained at all levels in
the organization.
16
“Vision 2000: The Strategy for the ISO 9000 Series Standards in the 90’s,” D. Marquardt, et
al., ASQC Quality Progress, Vol. 24, No. 5, May 1991, pp. 25–31.; “Management Practices: U. S.
Companies Improve Performance Through Quality Efforts,” General Accounting Office,
GAO/NSIAD–91–190, May, 1991.; “Fix the Process not the Problem,” H. Sirkin and G. Stalk,
Harvard Business Review, July/August 1990, pp. 26–33.

(b) Quality System: ... establish a documented quality system as a means of ensuring
that it conforms to the criteria of the applicable...standards.
(c) Design Control: ... establish and maintain procedures to control and verify the
product design in order to ensure that the specified requirements are met and assure
procedures for design planning and design changes are in place.
(d) Document Control: ... establish and maintain procedures for controlling all
documents and data thorough approval, distribution, and modification that relate to
the requirements of the Standard... The documents shall be reviewed and approved
for adequacy by authorized personnel prior to use.
(e) Product Identification: ... establish and maintain procedures for identifying the
product from applicable drawings, specifications, or other documents, during all
stages of production, delivery and installation...
(f) Process Control: ... shall identify and plan production and ... ensure that these
processes are carried out under controlled conditions ... Documented process control
instructions defining the manner of production ... where the absence of such
instructions would adversely affect quality.
The EDM system will provide the following functions for the Technical Document activities in the
QA Department:
[17]
(a) Authoring – the EDM system will provide a controlled process for creating and
altering documents. The generation and editing of text and graphical documents is
performed using standard workstation tools. Today these tools include word
processors and graphical design applications. The results of the authoring processes
will be maintained by the EDM system in the Electronic Vault.
The creation of a document will start with the creation of an entry in the Electronic
Vault’s index. This index entry will be used to reference the document through out its
life.
If an existing document is to be used as the basis of a new document or simply a
revision, then the original document is checked–out of the Electronic Vault for
revision. Changes are then made to the document and it, like the previous example
is checked–in to the Electronic Vault for review and promotion.
(b) Review and Promotion – the EDM system will provide the ability to mark up the
review copy to indicate any changes or suggestions. Once the changes (or creation)
have been made to the document, it will be reviewed for promotion to the next
release level. This activity will take place using the tools of the EDM system. Using
electronic mail or a vendor–provided workflow system notification that changes exist
and require review will be forwarded to the appropriate distribution list.
(c) Publication – the EDM system will provide for consistent publication and distribution
of the controlled documents. The approved documents will be placed in the
Electronic Vault as an official release. The release of the document will replace the
previous release and notify those on the distribution list of the existence of the new
document.
(d) Retrieval, Viewing and Printing– the EDM system will provide a consistent process
for retrieving and viewing controlled documents. The retrieval and viewing of the
document will take place through the facilities of the Electronic Vault. The data
model that defines the business rules for managing the documents will form the
17
In general, these steps of Authoring, Review and Promotion, Publication, Retrieve, Viewing
and Printing can be applied to all document management functions.

basis of the retrieval process. This data model defines the relationships and
attributes of the documents and the processes by which changes are made to the
documents.
The viewing of the document will take place by rendering the image of the
document in a form identical to the creation of the document, without the burden of
placing the authoring tools on each workstation. The viewed document will contain
text and graphics as well as images. Comments and notes can be made on the
viewed document and returned to the author for action.
Those users not involved in the authoring and review processes will be provided
with the ability to view the documents, but not the ability to make changes to the
controlled document, other than as suggestions to the author.
1.9.3. Maintenance EDM Vision
It could be argued that operations and maintenance is a secondary function in the US, when
compared to the dominant technical disciplines of development and manufacturing.
[18]
Although this may not always be the case at all businesses, there are usually several underlying
difficulties with the current maintenance and operation of process or manufacturing facilities
directly related to the management of documents:
(a) Proactive maintenance – the largest expenditure for maintenance today occurs in
the area of corrective maintenance. The major contributor to the unit operating cost
of the plant equipment is the cost to restore this equipment to operation coupled with
the cost of lost production.
(b) Maintenance work – by decreasing the number of human mistakes that occur during
the normal course of maintenance the overall cost of operating the process or
manufacturing facility can be reduced.
(c) Standard documentation and information not available – by increasing the
availability and accuracy of the information used during the maintenance process,
the overall maintenance cost can be reduced.
By addressing these issues through the deployment of an EDM system, the maintenance of the
production facilities can be improved. Documentation enters into this improvement in the
following manner:
(d) Task Specifications – by defining what actions need to be taken and when they need
to be performed, the maintenance of the equipment can be improved. The OEM of
production equipment usually provides the documentation containing this
information. Access to these documents takes place through a manual process.
(e) Procedure Specifications – this is a document which guides the execution of the
maintenance task. In simple situations, the procedures may be as simple as a one–
page instruction. In more complex tasks, a maintenance manual must be referenced
in order to proceed with the procedure.
(f) Logistics – this activity entails a variety of activities ranging from purchasing, stores
management, tooling, vendor support, training and regulatory requirements. Each of
these activities involves the use, creation and distribution of documents.
1.9.4. Records Management EDM Vision
The management of official records usually takes place through several databases. The actual
documents recorded in these databases are physically held by different organizations.
18
Reliability–Centered Maintenance, A. M. Smith, McGraw–Hill, 1993.

The use of an EDM system address the following issues:
(a) Consolidation of the management of the records for the documents and the physical
documents themselves.
(b) Providing a uniform document management application across all business
document systems, including those documents that are managed in a controlled
manner.
(c) Centralizing the storage and retrieval of all controlled documentation in the
organization.
1.9.5. Office Technology EDM Vision
The use of paper or microfilm as a record keeping medium is used throughout industry today.
With the installation of an Electronic Document Management system, the need for these
technologies is greatly reduced. Although in most cases the information stored on the microfilm
is still required by state and regulatory agencies, the delivery of the image can take a new form.
There are two types of documents placed on microfilm today:
(a) Scanned information in the form of paper documents.
(b) Computer Output to Microfilm (COM) documents in the form of computer
generated reports.
Both of these document types can be placed in the EDM system. The paper document currently
being filmed can be scanned to an optical image and indexed to the EDM system.
The COM reports can be sent to a Computer Output to Laser Disk (COLD) in the same manner
as COM. By removing the COM film–processing step, expense can be reduced.
1.10. COMPANY I/S EDM VISION
Although the majority of this tutorial addresses an EDM System and its deployment in the
manufacturing facility, the EDM System’s impact on the I/S organization also needs to be
addressed.
The I/S strategy must address two (2) issues:
(a) How to manage and support the distributed computing technologies currently being
installed as well as those required for the deployment of an EDM system.
(1) Local area networks
ü Topology
ü Security
ü Routing
ü Bandwidth
ü Response time
ü Reliability / Availability
(2) Wide are networks
ü Connectivity
ü Security
ü Performance
ü Reliability / Availability
ü Cost
(3) Peripherals

ü Storage
ü HSM
ü Caching
ü Scanning / Printing
ü Workstations
(4) Core software components
ü Database engines
ü Email
ü Voice Mail
(b) How to employ these technologies to improve the business processes within each
group making use of EDM.
1.10.1. Vision for I/S
The deployment of an EDM system should be seen the image enabling of existing applications
with the documents that pertains to the existing business process. The EDM system augments
the existing business processing system, rather than replaces it.
In the case where no existing business processing system exists, providing an image enabled
application should be the minimum requirement to the current manual process.
1.10.2. Vision of I/S Customers
The users of the EDM system will make use of the documents delivered to their workstation in
the same manner that they make use of the documents today. However, the documents will be
controlled in a manner different than they are today. Following the standards of Total Quality
Management:
(a) the right document will be delivered,
(b) at the right time,
(c) for the right purpose.
1.11. EDM DEPLOYMENT STRATEGY SUMMARY
The EDM system must:
(a) Support the business goals and critical success factors of the organization.
(b) Focus on the strategic investments.
(c) Make the correct information available where it is needed and when it is needed.
(d) Make use of open off–the–shelf hardware and software products.
The I/S department must:
(a) Reassess the I/S investments on a periodic basis to determine whether they still
support the Critical Success Factors.
(b) Continually retrain the I/S staff in support of the Critical Success Factors.

2. EDM BACKGROUND, TERMINOLOGY AND TECHNICAL ARCHITECTURE
This section provides a background overview of the use of Electronic Document Management in
the industrial setting. By restricting the target application environment to process plants,
manufacturing facilities or electric utilities, a class of technical issues found in the traditional
business office environment can be avoided. The technical document environment creates a
unique set of requirements:
(a) Large document sizes with accompanying impacts on system performance.
(b) The use of formal management of change processes.
(c) Tight integration of the EDM System with CAD, MRP, ERP, production and
process control systems.
(d) Regulatory compliance (ISO, OSHA, EPA, FDA)
(e) Subcontractor management of supplied components, services or facilities.
2.1. PHILOSOPHICAL GOAL OF AN INDUSTRIAL EDM SYSTEM
In order to create a clear and concise picture of the requirements for the EDM System, a
philosophical goal is needed.
[19]
This goal is:
Gather the information needed to design, construct, operate, and maintain the
business’s facilities in a single coherent, secure and accessible Electronic
Document Management System.
The operational definition
[20]
of the terms in the goal are:
(f) Design – is the process of creating a solution to a problem using engineering,
technical writing or related skills?
(g) Construct – is the process of providing the solution in its physical form?
(h) Operate – is the process of placing the physical equipment or material into
operation?
(i) Maintain – is the process of keeping the physical equipment in operation?
(j) Coherent – is a logically correct and understandable set of rules for using the
system?
(k) Secure – is the ability to provide information within the proper context?
(l) Accessible – is an easily approachable and understandable interface for document
retrieval?
2.2. MOTIVATIONS FOR EDM AT A PROCESS OR MANUFACTURING FACILITY
A process or manufacturing facility creates and uses from hundreds of thousands to several
million pages of documentation during the course of its business every year. The majority of
19
The World of Edwards Deming, 2nd Edition, C. S. Kilian, SPC Press, 1992.
20
An operational definition assigns a communicable meaning to a concept and specifies the
conditions and procedures for ascertaining whether it applies in a given condition. Without an
operational definition the terms are meaningless concepts that hamper communication. “How to
Distinguish Masters from Hacks,” K. T. Delavigne, Quality Progress, May, 1995, pp. 97–102.

these documents exist in the form of paper, although they may have been created using a
computer authoring tool. Many of these documents are classified as technical documents, since
they are used in the engineering, testing, maintenance and operation of the manufacturing
process, while a large number are business documents.
These technical documents are produced using CAD and word processing software, which has
increased the productivity of the document author. However the creation and use of this
documentation has not significantly reduced the effort necessary to produce products or to
design, install and maintain the equipment and processes used to produce products.
The deployment of an Electronic Document Management system will address several of the
underlying sources of this reduction in productivity:
(a) The information in these documents is created and managed through the efforts of
individuals, without an overall corporate strategy for the creation, use and
management of these documents.
(b) Documents are created using a variety of authoring tools. This approach prevents
many of the documents from being shared outside the organization that created
them.
(c) Documents are indexed and filed by the organization and sometimes the individual
that created them. In some cases there are public repositories for documents, but
in general, access to corporate information is only provided to those individuals
who know where the documents reside.
2.3. TARGET BUSINESS APPLICATIONS
Although an enterprise–wide solution to the management of documents is a popular notion in the
industry, the reality of this approach usually does not lead to success. The initial deployment of
an EDM System should target applications with high payback opportunities. These applications
are document–centric, with the documents being the focus of the EDM System rather the current
manual business process.
These document–centric activities include:
(a) Engineering – by reducing, and at times eliminating, the generation, handling and
consumption of paper documents during the design, review and construction, the
cycle and process times for these processes will be reduced. These documents
include: drawings, specifications, design calculations, etc. By deploying the EDM
System, an Engineering Department will be able to eliminate the microfilming,
copying, posting of changes and the distribution costs currently associated with the
drawing release cycle.
(b) Research & Development – by consolidating the authoring, review and publication
of Specifications, Standards and Work Instructions, and related documents, R&D
can eliminate all duplicate and overlapping operations in deploying these
documents to the Level III users.
(c) Maintenance – by providing electronic access to all equipment documentation,
Maintenance can reduce the time currently expended in the search for
maintenance information and work instructions.
(d) Document Control – by consolidating the management of corporate and
engineering records with the control of the source documents referenced by these
records, the EDM System will combine two functions into one. Currently the
management of the controlled information is provided separately from the physical
storage and use of the controlled documents. These functions will be combined in
the EDM System, with the indexing and management controlled by a database

application and the physical capture, use and distribution provided by the facilities
of the EDM System.
There are several departments, which usually provide independent Document
Control functions. The EDM System will provide the control of the documents
generated by each of these functional areas. These include:
(1) Engineering – documents representing the design and as–built status of the
manufacturing facilities.
(2) Technical Documents – standards, specifications, and work instructions.
(3) Environmental – portions of the EPA, OSHA, and other regulatory
documentation as currently managed by the Document Control group.
(4) Safety – regulatory documents related to industrial safety and hygiene.
(e) Office Technology – by capturing electronic images of non–controlled business
records (e.g. purchase orders, invoices, etc.), microfilming activities can be
significantly reduced with an equivalent reduction in this recurring expense. The
capture, indexing, storage, and distribution of business documents is a traditional
application for an EDM System. The current microfilming and indexing (to the
mainframe) will be replaced by an electronic scanning and indexing operation.
Once scanned, the documents will be delivered to the end user through a
workstation application, completely eliminating the need for microfilm production,
storage and distribution.
2.4. COMMON ATTRIBUTES OF AN EDM SYSTEM
The use of EDM within a facility implies several changes in the behavior of the current
computing infrastructure and supporting systems. By articulating the attributes of an EDM
System, the impacts of its deployment can be better understood.
2.4.1. Management of Controlled Documents
The motivation for the deployment of an EDM System is based in part on the management of
controlled documents. These are documents that posses one or more of the following attributes
during their life cycle:
(a) Some form of authorization is required for publication, distribution and/or use.
(b) Regulatory requirements define the creation, management, distribution and/or
retention.
(c) The document provides maintenance, operation, safety and/or environmental
information that impacts the productivity or safety of the process.
(d) The document contains information, which is considered the intellectual property
of the business.
(e) The document is distributed outside the facility in a manner consistent with (a), (b),
(c) and/or (d).
2.4.2. Management of Uncontrolled Documents
Uncontrolled documents do not usually posses one or more of the attributes described in §1.4.1.
Therefore, they do not usually warrant the effort and expense of placing them inside the EDM
System. It may be though, that some uncontrolled documents become associated with controlled
documents. This association between uncontrolled and controlled documents will be defined in
the EDM System data model.
Uncontrolled documents are not excluded from the EDM System. Several examples of
uncontrolled documents include:

(a) Work in Progress – documents that are undergoing changes and in the initial
stages of creation.
(b) Calculations made during the design process – electronic and paper based
calculations will be placed in the EDM System Project Folders.
(c) Notes and meeting minutes taken during the design process – paper and
electronic information will be captured in a folder.
(d) Commentary on the documents and drawings produced as controlled
documentation – any other supporting information will be placed in a folder
associated with the project, the author or other indexing methods.
2.5. TECHNICAL ATTRIBUTES OF THE EDM SYSTEM
The following sections describe the attributes of an EDM System in terms of their architecture
and behavior.
The following diagram describes the various processes and their relationships in the EDM
System:
Document
Capture
Document
Indexing
Security
Document
Retreival
Document
Printing
Mgmnt
of
Change
Document
Viewing
Document
Markup
Original Documents
Comit Docs
Validate User
Validate
User
Retreival
Index
Print
Request
Update Document
Check–In
Query
Figure 2.1 – Functions of the EDM System

2.5.1. Functions of an EDM System
The EDM System provides an integrated set of services to meet the needs of the end user as
well as the system administrator. The EDM System is based on a client server architecture which
provides a scaleable set of hardware and software resources capable of adapting to the future
needs of the business. The functions of the EDM System are described in Figure 2.3 include:
(a) Document Capture – documents stored in the EDM System may originate from
several sources: CAD drawings, word processor generated documents and hand
generated paper documents. All these formats are captured through a uniform
Document Entry application. This software application provides a consistent point
of entry for both electronic and paper documents.
(1) Paper documents are scanned into an electronic image, which can be stored
in the EDM System. Verification of the scanned images and their preliminary
indexing will be performed through a workstation application. The
Management of Change application will control the indexing of new
documents and updates to existing documents.
(2) Electronic documents will be captured in their original format. This format
will be used to publish the document. The Data Model and Management of
Change application will maintain the connection between the original
formatted document and the published format.
(b) Document Indexing – once each document has been captured it will be indexed to
the appropriate portion of the Data Model. This document indexing process will be
different for each department. The CASE tools used to generate the data model
will maintain the definition of the data model entities and their attributes. Any
changes to the data model will be made through this CASE tool, with the
appropriate updates to the database tables and attributes.
(c) Document Security – the security of documents controlled by the EDM System will
be defined in accordance with the business’s security guidelines. There are three
(3) levels of security usually defined in a commercial operation:
(1) Official Business Use Only
(2) Confidential
(3) Highly Confidential
(i) Uncontrolled copy
(ii) Do Not Copy
The deployment of the EDM System will make the assumption that information
delivered to the end user is available to all personnel in order to perform their
function. Documents that require security will be placed in a logically separate
portion of the EDM System and made available only to those authorized to view,
print and modify the documents.
(d) Document Retrieval, Viewing and Markup – once documents have been placed in
the EDM System, they may be retrieved for viewing and subsequent printing. The
user may retrieve the document through a Document Query application. The
technical details of the Query application will be determined during the detailed
design process.
There are several options for the application:
(1) A visual data model walker in which the user moves graphically through the
document database.
(2) A traditional tree structured approach in which the user moves through a
hierarchy of documents and folders.

(3) A direct query approach in which the user posses a query for a document or
set of documents and is presented with the match list of documents that
correspond to the requested query.
In all cases the retrieval of documents is performed through the appropriate data
model. The use of arbitrary keywords and phrases attached to the documents
should be avoided.
[21]
Once the document has been retrieved to the users
workstation, markups can be applied to the document and returned to the
originator. These markups can be as simple as a sticky note or as complex as
raster drafting suggestions to the drawings. In all cases the markups do not alter
the original documents and are controlled through the Management of Change
application residing in the EDM System.
(e) Document Printing – documents placed in the EDM System can be printed using
any of the printing devices attached to the network. In addition production printing
can take place using high volume printing devices. Documents can be selected for
printing in several ways:
(1) Once a document has been delivered to the user workstation, all or portions
of the document can be sent to a printer.
(2) A list of documents can be selected for printing, without retrieving them to
the workstation, but can be printed by the EDM System’s print server.
The printed documents can be marked with a variety of overlays to indicate
additional information, including:
(3) Date and time of printing.
(4) Gray scale bands placed over the document page to indicate usage and
security information.
(f) Management of Change – There are both regulatory as well as good business
practice requirements for managing the change to the documents captured by the
EDM System. The Management of Change application will:
21
The use of Full Text Search (FTS) or Content Based Retrieval (CBR) as the primary indexing
method presents several problems. The management of a document index requires that the user
have confidence that the proper document or documents have been delivered to the workstation.
The CBR method makes use of a statistical matching approach, either by calculating the
probability that a set of words match the retrieval key or some other probabilistic method of
matching patterns. However, the documents stored in the EDM system and delivered to the
production floor have specific and deterministic indexing information associated with them.
When an operator requires a document, there is not a probabilistic request for documents that
might match the request. The operator will be delivered the proper document with 100%
assurance that it is the correct document, the proper revision and the appropriate document for
the situation. This retrieval method is provided through a data model that defines the business
rules for the delivery of documents. This situation requires deterministic searching and selection
of documents. Therefore the FTS or CBT method will not be provided for R&D documents
delivered to the production floor.
There are cases where the actual content of a document can be of interest to the user. This case
is where some type of research is taking place and the user does not know what documents need
to be located before the search takes place. This type of document management is usually found
in library applications. There are many complexities involved in deploying a FTS system that are
beyond the requirements of the normal business activity and management of Technical
Documents. For an in depth background on this issue see, “Rich Interaction in the Digital
Library”, R. Rao, et. al., Communications of the ACM, Volume 38., Number 4., April, 1995. Pp.
29–39.

(1) Maintain the revision state of all documents in the EDM System. This will be
done by:
(i) Controlling all changes to the EDM System database tables that
describe the current and past revision of the document.
(ii) Providing an audit trail for all changes to the EDM System revision
tables.
(iii) Providing a common User Interface for making changes to an existing
document, which is maintained in the EDM System.
(3) Allow the End User to tailor the author, review and publish cycle for a
document. This tailoring process allows each business unit to describe
information about the Change Request and the steps necessary to process
the Change Request.
(4) The Management of Change application will provide a consistent method for
processing changes to the controlled documents, this includes:
(i) Create a Change Request
(ii) Review the Change Request
(iii) Approve a Change Request
(iv) Implement the Change Request
(v) Close the Change Request
(3) Documents generated from the EDM System will be marked in accordance
with the business’s guidelines for the management of Confidential and
Highly Confidential documentation, according to the description in §2.2.1.
The following diagram describes the various steps performed on the documentation while it
undergoes changes.
Close Out C.R.
Create
Change
Request
Close
Change
Request
Review
Change
Request
Implement
Change
Request
Approve
Change
Request
2.01.11.0 Markup
Electronic Document Management System
Update
Master
Markup
Cache
1.0MU +
1.1
1.0
Review
Reject
Accept
C.R. C.R.C.R. C.R.C.R.
ReviewedSubmitted Approved
C.R. Rejected C. R. Approved Work in Progress Work CompleteC.R. Opened
C.R. State
C.R. Event
C.R. Process
Figure 2.2 – Management of Change Process

2.5.2. New Technology Attributes
The EDM System will introduce several new technologies to the computing environment,
including:
(a) Compressed images moving across the network – these images will range in size
from 50K Bytes to many megabytes. The demand on the network will be for both
response time and through–put.
(b) Heterogeneous data types delivered to a single workstation – several mixed data
types will be combined on a single workstation. The collection and management of
these data types will be performed using the application software specific to EDM.
(c) High performance workstations deployed throughout the facility – the loads placed
on the network and the workstation for the transmission and manipulation of
images and associated information will require the use of high performance
platforms.
(d) Distributed databases and data deployed for specific user groups – using a layered
architecture, the deployment of a distributed environment will place new
requirements on all aspects of I/S management.
2.5.2.1. Network Attributes
The most crucial infrastructure element of the EDM System is the network. The only purpose for
the network is to provide connectivity for the existing and planned I/S applications. This
approach places the network in a secondary position when compared to the application
architecture, since the network becomes a delivery mechanism, whose requirements are driven
by the EDM System.
The primary attributes of the network include:
(a) A Top Down approach for deploying applications within each business unit – the
assignment of applications to business units should not depend on the underlying
network architecture, rather the network and its topology should adapt to the
business needs of the organization.
(b) Managing the network as a finite resource – rather than as an unlimited resource.
Simply providing more bandwidth will not always remove performance limitations
from the system. By providing data locality management within the infrastructure,
the EDM System’s performance can be tuned to the needs of each business unit.
2.5.2.2. Data Types
In the existing I/S applications environment (not the current Engineering network) the information
sent to and received from workstations most often consists of record data, stored in a SQL
database. The EDM System creates several new data types:
(a) Compressed Raster – this data type contains an image of a document. The
document may have been scanned or converted from another form. Word
processing, CAD and graphics documents can be converted to raster form. There
are several restrictions on these document types, including the rendering of color.
(b) Rendering Format Files – this data type renders the document for the user in a
form nearly identical to the original form. Color, graphics, images and video can
be placed in this format.
(c) CAD – this data type will not be rendered directly to the user of the EDM System.
The creation of CAD data will be restricted to the workstations used in Engineering
and related disciplines.

(d) Native Word Processor – this data type will not be rendered directly to the user of
the EDM System. The creation of word processing data will be restricted to the
workstations equipped for authoring documents.
These new data types will impose a significant load on the existing infrastructure, when
compared to today’s record information. Because of this impact, the network becomes the key
component of the EDM System.
Using the data types described above, the network will support the following activities:
(a) Large files are moved between the cache server or optical disk subsystem and the
workstation. These files can be as large as several megabytes. The performance
load placed on all components of the system is many times that found in the
existing systems deployed in support of business data processing. These loads are
several orders of magnitude greater than those found in traditional forms based
database applications.
(b) The information associated with documents may be complex. Red–lining overlays,
attached reference files, attached images, etc. These images will be delivered to
the workstation at the same time as the requested document. The collection and
management of these reference files will require the use of several databases,
simultaneously.
(3) The database that defines the business model for the documents.
(4) The database that defines the connections between the base level
documents and the reference files.
(5) The database that defines the business rules that manages the changes to
the documents and the reference files.
These databases could be combined into one database server, however in many
cases the existence of the database and its internal operation are not the under the
control of the EDM System, but rather are provided by the vendor of the CAD or
external document management system.
(a) The routing of documents between workstations during the review and approval
process places an additional load on the network. The associated information
described above will travel with the routed document and then be returned to the
EDM System for final check–in and release.
2.6. WHAT IS A DOCUMENT
People who have become involved with electronic document management, often ponder the
fundamental question, “What is a document?” In the hardcopy world, the notion of document is
somewhat easier to define than in the electronic world. Here are some easy to understand
examples of hardcopy documents:
(a) A book, with chapters, page numbers, illustrations, indices and tables of contents
(b) A drawing, with objects, equipment numbers, title blocks, external references.
(c) A type written operating procedure, with sections, cross references.
(d) A map, with legends, symbology
Here are some examples that blur the lines of these clear examples:
(a) A conference proceeding published as a book. Each paper is a contribution from a
different author. Is the book the document, or is each paper the document?
(b) A drawing made up of several sheets. Which is the document, the drawing or the
sheet?

(c) All the relevant operating procedures for a process unit, put into a binder. Is the
binder the document, or each procedure?
(d) A group of maps bound together as an atlas. Is each map a document, or is the
atlas?
2.6.1. What is a Document in the Electronic World? Case 1: Drawings
Figure 1–1 is a data model showing what comprises a drawing. Physically, a drawing is often
comprised of a number of sheets. Each sheet is individually updated, and maintains its own
revision level. Each revision undergoes a number of versions. A revision becomes official when
it is released. Versions are created frequently as the information for subsequent revisions is
created. One or more files represent each version. These files may include:
(a) Zero, one or more native files
(b) Zero, one or more distribution copies, in various renditions
(c) Zero, one or more markup files.
The word “drawing” indicates a concept. The layman’s term “drawing” has to be defined, shown
in Figure 1–1, to provide an operational definition to allow an EDM system to be implemented.
Figure 2–1 – What is a Drawing?
DRAWING
SHEET
REVISION
VERSION
MARKUP NATIVE_FILE RENDITION
ACCESS_RIGHT
STATE

2.6.2. What is a Document in the Electronic World? Case 2: Procedures
Figure 2–1is a data model that describes a procedure. Physically, such a document is often
comprised of a number of sections (although this creates a nice analogy to drawings, the
definition of section is somewhat arbitrary). Each section may be individually updated, and
maintains its own revision level. Each revision undergoes a number of versions. A revision
becomes official when it is released. As in the case of drawings, one or more files represent each
version. These files may include:
(a) Zero, one or more native files
(b) Zero, one or more distribution copies, in various renditions
(c) Zero, one or more markup files.
Again, the word “procedure” indicates a concept. The layman’s term “procedure” has to be
defined, shown in Figure 2–2, to provide an operational definition to allow an EDM system to be
implemented.
Figure 2–2 – What is a Procedure?
PROCEDURE
SECTION
REVISION
VERSION
MARKUP NATIVE_FILE RENDITION
ACCESS_RIGHT
STATE

2.7. DOCUMENT LIFE CYCLES
Documents usually follow a cycle in which they are created, accessed, updated, and deleted.
The process by which documents are created and used may be simple or complex. Documents
usually go through a process where they are created or modified before they are released.
When documents are being changed, functions appropriate for this step can be performed.
These functions include: editing, viewing, printing, creation of markups or annotations, and
document promotion. When the documents are released a smaller set of functions are usually
permitted which include: viewing, printing and creation of markups or annotations.
Although there are as many “pictures” of a document life cycle as there are business procedures
that make use of documents. The examples developed below illustrate and engineering bias to
the document management environment. In this case a document can be a drawing or a textual
document. In either case the document is considered a controlled entity managed by the EDM
System.

A typical state diagram describing the life cycle for controlled drawings is shown in Figure 2–3:
Work In
Progress
Released
Document
Renumber
Obsolete
Check–In
Replaced
Check–In
Markup(s)
Return Item
to Vault
Check–Out
Reserved
Registered
Pending
Approval
Approved
for Check–In
Check–In
Approved
Reject
Release
Ready for
Release
Create
Drawing
Cancel
Drawing
Reject
Release
Ready
for Approval
Reject
Hold
Drawing
Ready for
Release
Reject
Drawing
Request New
Drawing
Reject
Start
Drawing
Process
Renumbered
Obsolete
Superseded
Electronic Vault
Change Management
Figure 2–3 – State Diagram for Controlled Drawings

The following section describes the individual states of the process of managing documents
[22]
as shown in the previous figure:
(a) Start Drawing Process – this is the initial entry point into the system. When the
user wants to create a new drawing, the existence of the drawing is Reserved by
the system. The EDM System issues a place holder for the drawing, with the
attributes of the drawing type assigned to the default values. The creation of the
drawing usually takes place within the CAD system using the drawing number
assigned by the Drawing Registry. This drawing number is often placed in the CAD
file’s title block using the programmatic tools of the CAD environment
(b) Reserved – this is the state that reserved a drawing identifier for future use. When
drawings are being created, not all drawing numbers are known nor is it possible to
know the total number of drawings that will be produced. The EDM System usually
provides the ability to Reserve a drawing number or a range of numbers for use. If
the drawing numbers are not used they will be returned to the system for reuse.
(c) Registered – Once a new document is ready for release the document identifier
can be Registered with the EDM system. The document is registered through the
Document Entry and Change Management applications. At these points the new
document is presented to the EDM System and the indexing information provided.
(d) Pending Approval – A Change Management application is typically used to
update the Business Model Index. Prior to the entry of the document into the EDM
System and its official release, the document will have the status of Pending
Approval. This will allow documents to be placed in the EDM System and made
accessible to others, without requiring that they be officially released. When the
document is retrieved, viewed and printed, some form of marking is applied to
indicate that it is not the official release, but rather Pending Release.
(e) Approved for Check–In – This state is short lived and is assigned to the document
after it has been approved but before it is actually checked–in to the EDM System.
(f) Hold Drawing – when the document approval and check–in process has been
suspended for some reason (project is put on hold), the document can be placed in
the Hold state.
(g) Renumbered – when a drawing has been given a new number. The state of the
previous number changes to Renumbered.
(h) Superseded – when new revisions of a drawing are released the state of the
previous revision changes to Superseded.
(i) Replaced – when a drawing is replaced with another drawing with a different
drawing number (i.e. not a new revision), the state of the previous drawing is
changed to Replaced.
22
As usual the distinction between a drawing and a document is not clearly stated here.
Documents include drawings and other 8½ by 11 sized documents. For the purposes of this
specification the words drawing and document are interchangeable, except where the difference
is important.

The rules by which documents move from one state in their life cycle to the next state may be
ad–hoc or may follow rigidly controlled steps. Each kind of document (document type) will
usually have its own life cycle. These rules will either be programmed into the EDM system or
they can be forced manually by users.
2.8. DOCUMENT RELATIONSHIPS
How documents relate to each other is extremely important to an organization and to an EDM
system. Regulations such as OSHA 1910 PSM, ISO 9000 and other guidelines, or simply good
engineering or manufacturing practices, require that all related documents be updated when a
change is made to the process. Therefore, it is necessary to maintain a list of related documents
for each process and in some cases down to the equipment level.
Document relationships are in general complex due to many factors. These include:
(a) Relationships change in time.
23
(b) Relationships are somewhat arbitrary (i.e. how do define what a relationship is)
Most EDM vendors implement document relationships using a relational database which
assumes that the relationships described are valid for all time
24
. How are relationships modeled
if they are dynamically changing as in the case of documents within an engineering,
maintenance or operations organization? Can this be done using current technologies?
23
Document Relationships – while it is often desirable to have the EDM system manage the
relationships between documents, it is often not done or is limited because of the cost involved
in maintaining the links during the initial EDM System installation.
24
Integrity Rule 2 (Referential Integrity) – see pp. 89–90 of An Introduction to Database Systems
Third Edition, Volume 1, C. J. Date, Addison–Wesley Systems Programming Series, 1981.
Document 1
Rev 0
Document 1
Rev 1
Document 1
Rev 2
Document 2
Rev 0
Document 2
Rev 1
Document 3
Rev 0
Document 3
Rev 1
Figure 2–4 – Example Document Relationships

To further explore document relationships Figure 2–4 represents three documents: Document 1,
Document 2 and Document 3 which are related to each other during changes in revisions. This
example could describe the relationships between Standard Operating Procedure, Training
Procedures, and Maintenance Procedures.
2.8.1. Definition of Document Object Relationships
From Figure 2–4 it is possible to complete a table describing the various relationships which are
shown in Figure 1–5.
This table may be summarized as follows:
(a) Document 1 Rev 0 and Document 1 Rev 1 are associated with Document 3 Rev 0
and Document 2 Rev 0
(b) Document 1 Rev 3 is associated with Document 3 Rev 1 and Document 2 Rev 1
These relationships may be used to indicate whether or not a change in one document causes
changes in other documents to occur. Since EDM systems do not know how to interpret the
contents of a document it cannot know if when a change is made to one document that it is
absolutely necessary to change the related documents. It may only suggest based on the
relationships table that the related documents should be looked at.
The previous example demonstrates the case where specific revisions of a document are related
to specific revisions of other documents. It is possible to imagine that other kinds of relationships
exist. In practice there are four kinds as shown in the next figure.
A list of each of these categories follows:
(a) Latest Revision of Object A is related to the Latest Revision of Object B
(b) Specific Revision(s) of Object A is related to Specific Revision(s) of Object B –
this kind of relationship is most typical and is the minimum level required to
support a plant environment.
(c) Latest Revision of Object A is related to Specific Revision(s) of Object B – this
relationship may be implemented by using Relationship (b) and adding custom
code to provide the latest revisions.
Document 1
Document 1
Document 1
Document 1
Document 1
Document 1
Rev 0
Rev 1
Rev 0
Rev 1
Rev 2
Rev 2
Document 2
Document 2
Document 3
Document 3
Document 2
Document 3
Rev 0
Rev 0
Rev 0
Rev 0
Rev 1
Rev 1
Object A Rev A Object B Rev B
Figure 2–5 – Table of Document Relationships

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