Internationally, mining companies are increasingly turning to SAP for a solution to their document management needs. The driving forces behind this trend are the need for increased operational efficiency, document process integration, cost reduction and regulatory compliance.
There are compelling business and cost reasons for mining companies using SAP in operations and maintenance, to implement the SAP Document Management System (DMS). The SAP DMS is a robust, state-of-the-art document management system that is an integral part of the standard SAP system. This means that it is readily available and can be implemented at minimal additional software and hardware cost by mines using the SAP ERP system.
According to Abie Spies, Managing Director of Engineering Informatics: "The biggest advantage of implementing the SAP DMS in mines is the operational efficiencies it leads to. As a fully integrated part of standard SAP, it is directly accessible in all SAP modules, with direct linking of documents to SAP objects - without any interface software. This means that operations staff gets access to documents directly from their familiar systems, rather than having to search for them through a separate document management system."
Engineering Informatics, the SAP Special Expertise partner in Enterprise Content Management, has recently been involved with DMS strategies and implementation of the SAP Document Management functionality at a number of major mining companies including Kumba, Sasol mining, Implats, Xstrata and Lonmin in SA, and Zinifex and WMC in Australia. The successful implementations are leading to more and more international mining companies considering the SAP DMS solution.
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