A few days ago I was at the Open Text Enablement Training. Having had spent several years with Content Management Systems, I went in without expecting much, assuming the training and discussions would be about WCM, Collaboration, Document Management, Records Management, Digital Asset Management and of course extensions of the same solutions for Web 2.0 and Social Media.

Once the session started rolling I realized how mistaken I was. I found a completely new paradigm of ECM enabling ERP systems to provide great opportunities for efficiency and effectiveness improvements. 

Having had grounds up experience with ERP & Supply Chain systems prior to my initiation into ECM, the training was spot on and I could realize the value and potential of such an offering. Traditionally ERP systems evolved over time from MRP through MRP II to ERP and Supply Chain management to provide an integrated view into an Enterprise covering all functional areas such as Finance including Accounts Payable, Receivable, General Ledger, in-bound and out-bound logistics including Sales & Distribution, Procurement, Production Planning, Manufacturing, Warehouse lot and location controls etc. Usually it covered the typical end-to-end cycle from procure-to-pay or order-to-cash. While this perfectly fulfilled the need for enterprises to get a 360 degree view into their operations, most of data managed by these systems are structured and discrete pieces of information. Thus a MRP run would result in automatic triggering of production orders, purchase orders, or vendor orders which would comprise of the item details, schedule, product specifications etc. These systems per-se were not designed for managing unstructured information generated through collaborative interactions such as vendor negotiations, evaluations and selections that happens through emails, or QC processes that might contain unstructured information such as operating manuals, test procedures, equipment calibration processes, test certificates, lab photographs, lab videos etc. Companies usually store such information outside of the ERP system and access to these assets is disjointed. Typically users would need to scan through multiple systems including physical documents to get the required information.

However imagine a situation where ERP systems and ECM systems can co-exist and information could be provided in-context to the users. There are several scenarios where this would be helpful such as in Logistics where users would need to see customers’ sales order and deliveries which are usually managed as structured information alongside unstructured information such as Bills of Exchange and Letters of Credit, Shipping Notice, Suppliers (and third party) Inspection Report and Test Certificates, Shipping Invoice, Transit Insurance documents, multi-modal transportation documents, bills of lading, mate’s receipt, and warehouse receipt notice and customers inspection report etc. Each of these documents are required at some stage during the distribution process for completing a B2B transaction. Some of immediate areas where this could provide huge value are in Accounts Payable, Quality Control, and Distribution etc. I think ECM enabled ERP systems would contribute to increased operational efficiencies enhancing the benefits of integration that ERP systems usually provide.