To ensure that it meets statutory requirements, as outlined by the Department of Mineral Resources, in terms of the documentation relating to its plant maintenance environment, South Africa-based diversified mining group Exxaro has enlisted the services of integrated information and communication tech- nology solutions and services provider Datacentrix.

Datacentrix previously helped Exxaro ensure that the correct content was captured in Exxaro’s Supplier Audit Programme (SAP) Document Management System (DMS).

Datacentrix enterprise information management senior account manager Warren Buss says the company has enabled Exxaro to circumvent a cumbersome document management process by providing a solution that can identify which plant equipment is undergoing maintenance across a number of the organisation’s operating sites.

The solution also recognises the related documentation needed, including the requisite process policies, plant maintenance orders and associated documents, such as three-dimensional (3D) drawings, says Buss.

Prior to the roll-out of SAP Product Lifecycle Management (PLM), supplied by software supplier Cideon, these computer-aided design models and drawings could not be uploaded onto the SAP document management system.

This software is, however, critical to Exxaro, as SAP also manages the organisation’s asset register, which means that the relevant technical documentation must be linked to the correct asset within SAP.

The project completed by Data-centrix has enabled Exxaro to collate information faster and in a more logical manner – which is particularly important to a com- pany as safety-orientated as Exxaro, adds Buss.

Exxaro physical assets management senior solutions architect Hendrik du Plessis adds: “From a legal perspective, Exxaro must ensure that work instructions for the execution of maintenance tasks are carefully controlled and can only be approved by a competent, specifically appointed person.”

However, within the standard SAP PLM setup, the maintenance task list can be changed by anyone with change access to it.

To ensure that amendments to a task list can only be made when approved, Exxaro implemented SAP DMS, which provides secure access to workflow, roles, approvals and documents, with limited access to the original documentation, highlights Du Plessis.

“The Cideon Output Manage-ment solution rolled out by Data-centrix has enabled the company to merge SAP DMS documents with SAP work orders once they are printed. This includes the necessary functionality to include the important 3D drawings,” he says.

“Datacentrix has been working with Exxaro for some time, with Datacentrix starting to assist Exxaro in the development of its engineering department’s enterprise content management road- map for about four years.

Data-centrix understands Exxaro’s processes and works very closely with its users on a daily basis,” concludes Buss.