What is document management in SAP really capable of?

The DSC webcast “WHERE DOCUMENTS MEET PROCESSES” highlights the capabilities, and some smart enhancement options

Karlsruhe, Germany, April 2021 – Many companies use SAP for important business processes – but are not aware that they already have a solid DMS system in place. According to the experts at DSC Software AG, they need to become more aware of this. With their webcast WHERE DOCUMENTS MEET PROCESSES | MANAGE ALL PRODUCT-RELEVANT DOCUMENTS WITH SAP – EASY AND INTUITIVE, the Karlsruhe company got participants enthusiastic about SAP DMS. With SAP as a basis, SAP Engineering Control Center | SAP ECTR and the additional DSC solutions on top, the participants gained insight into a modern and tried-and-tested DMS solution.

Most of the webcast participants were already familiar with managing CAD documents such as design drawings, 3D models or customer drawings in SAP. However, what about all the other product-related documents such as specifications, test reports, or manuals? In many companies, these documents are stored separately in a file system – without a reference to the corresponding processes. Not only is this inefficient, it also makes it difficult to access currently valid documents – essential in the case of certifications, or for obligations to provide proof. Additionally, functions such as releasing, versioning, workflow, or track changes are completely missing.

The SAP system already covers the basic DMS functions

During their well-attended webcast, DSC Software AG showed that this does not have to be the case.

In addition, in many companies, the solution to the problem is closer than expected as the SAP system already covers the basic DMS functions. This enables the central management of all relevant documents together with the respective business processes – in one single system, to which all users have access. The option of linking documents to SAP business objects, such as Material or Debitor was particularly interesting for the webcast participants – and ensures that all necessary documents are completely integrated into the SAP-supported business processes.

SAP ECTR and CROSS·POINT optimally enhance functionality

In a live demo using SAP ECTR and CROSS·POINT, the DSC experts showed how to efficiently enhance the SAP system’s solid basics. In SAP ECTR, a DMS user has access to all the functions they require. Thanks to an intuitive user interface, also even without deeper knowledge of SAP and transactions. Processes are automated and standardized – from the creation process to the release, versioning, and other SAP-supported processes. In order to find the created documents as quickly as possible in SAP, CROSS·POINT came on the scene. The smart web client amazed many participants. “During the demo, the results were displayed even before the search term was fully entered” enthused one of the participants. “It is really just like a search engine, but in SAP. Extremely cool!”