GPI Sakhalin has implemented Appius-PLM TDO technical document management system

2025: Implementation of Appius-PLM TDO technical document management system

The company Appius-Digital Solutions"" at the end of May 2025 announced the completion of a project to implement a technical document management system Appius-PLM Technical Document Management (Appius-PLM TDO) Russian in the center for the provision of engineering services to LLC "."Sakhalin GPI

According to the company, the following factors determined the need to implement the Appius-PLM TDO system:

• the existing document management system did not cover all the needs of the company, including the automation of business processes
• the importance of promptly obtaining statistical information on the state of preparation of documentation
• the need to move to modern data processing methods
• transition to Russian-developed software

The main objectives of the implementation project were established:

• provision of employees with a unified system of technical document management;
• transition from the previously implemented technical document management system in order to automate the processes of control of issue, approval and review of design and technical documentation;
• automation of specific processes of work with technical documentation such as verification, modification, internal and interdisciplinary checks, etc.;
• transition to a domestic system based on the 1C platform: Enterprise;
• structuring and archiving of technical documentation in the context of projects.

The customer chose the technical document management system, first of all, paying attention to the efficiency of users, providing technical support by his own service specialists, IT as well as the possibility of integration with other configurations already used in the enterprise on the platform: 1C Enterprise.

In addition, wide options for systematizing the storage of technical documentation, namely the simple and quick reconstruction of the existing electronic archive, have become an important factor in choosing software. That is why the Russian system Appius-PLM TDO, operating on the 1C: Enterprise 8.3 platform, was preferred.

On the APPIUS side, 1 project manager, 2 business analysts and a development team participated in the project. The customer involved the Project Information Management Manager, Project Management Engineer, IT Project Manager, Project Engineering Team, IT Team including 1C Developers, Tester Team including Document Control.

Before starting work on the project, both parties drew up and agreed on a schedule, the main stages of which were:

• Joint system installation
• entering reference information (projects, objects, disciplines, document types, document types, statuses, etc.);
• Share existing data
• Develop and configure the Document Verification process
• Data entry for one pilot project
• Set up the import of documentation from the incoming invoice
• setting up the creation of projects, new documents, obtaining numbers, creating a work schedule for issuing tasks to performers;
• Setting up the documentation review process
• Setting up notifications to external mail
• development and configuration of the process "Document Modification Request";
• development of the integration module with; nanoCAD
• development of the system test program and methods;
• development of operational documentation;
• training and preparation of instructions;
• pilot testing;
• putting the system into commercial operation.

Preparations for implementation included a number of activities. First of all, the implementation team conducted a survey of the existing organization of technical document management directly on the territory of the customer.

Current instructions, procedures and procedures regarding the development and management of project documentation were requested and analyzed. Moreover, employees conducted a series of interviews with customer specialists directly involved in the management of technical documentation. During such conversations, important features of the customer's internal processes were highlighted, key requirements for system configuration were identified. Based on the results of the interview and analysis of the documentation, the "Procedure for managing the technical documentation of the project using the Appius-PLM Management of Design and Estimate Documentation" system was prepared, which formed the basis for further configuration and refinement of the Appius-PLM TDO system. This document includes a description of:

• Access levels, rights, and roles in the system
• Documentation structures and element properties
• procedures for assigning documentation designations;
• registration of documentation;
• a variety of documentation review processes;
• work with invoices;
• the process of exchanging documentation with counterparties (contractors, suppliers);
• work with the final versions of the documentation;
• reports that can be prepared automatically.

One of the features of the implementation of the system is bilingual presentation of information, since earlier the customer carried out activities to manage technical documentation in 2 languages.

The system project tree is the main user interface, which, with a well-designed construction, provides simple and fast access to the necessary information. For the customer, the combined construction of the project tree turned out to be optimal, i.e. a stationary part and dynamic branches of the tree were determined, which are built and updated by the system automatically according to pre-configured rules.

In addition, when defining the structure, we tried to take into account the tree type familiar to the customer's employees in the previously used system. The stationary part of the project tree was built in accordance with the document identification regulations as follows.

Dynamic sections of the project tree are represented by such sections as "Structure by disciplines," "Structure by sections of PD," etc.

For further work, a library of structure templates for other projects was created.

One of the most important and difficult steps at the very beginning of the system implementation was to define a set of properties for the types of system elements (object, project, module, documents, etc.). Element properties are the main tool for further customizing various function modules, for example, based on a set of document properties, various system reports have been developed and the dynamic structure of the project tree mentioned above has been built.

Appius-PLM TDO provides a typical specialized module for universal documentation loading. This module is used to import both existing data and the document delivery schedule (creating blank document cards that are scheduled for release) into the system, i.e., to load the Master Document Register/MDR.

Prior to downloading the existing data, preparatory work was carried out to export information from the previously used system, namely, registers for downloading were compiled containing the main parameters of documents (designation, name, status, discipline, type, main milestones of the life cycle - dates, etc.). In addition, packages of document files were generated (exported from the repository), which were also loaded into the Appius-PLM TDO system.

During the implementation phase, special attention was paid to ensuring the transparency and clarity of the information with which ordinary users work. In particular, it was necessary to make sure that with one look at the properties (their values), the current status of any document immediately became clear. The problem was complicated by the fact that several types of documents with a different set of property values ​ ​ appeared in the system.

The analysts implementation team developed and implemented a status model for each type of documentation, which identified all possible combinations of values ​ ​ of the properties of the documentation that change during the life cycle of a particular type of document.

Based on the status model, a special status guide for system elements was developed and implemented, which made it possible to create a specific set of status values ​ ​ for each type of documentation.

The Appius-PLM TDO system has a typical module built in, which provides easy and fast loading of invoices. This module is a convenient tool for quickly loading invoices and information transmitted with them. Before using this mechanism, it was configured according to the invoice format used by the customer. Thus, having approved the invoice format and set up imports once, the customer received a tool for automatic data processing.

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Фото: Appius

The Appius-PLM TDO system has a built-in standard module of the documentation review business process, which allows you to automate the distribution of materials for review by responsible specialists (both using a pre-loaded document distribution matrix and manually compiling a list), provides a simple and convenient tool for commenting (online and offline), generates summary files of the review results.

Customization and adaptation of the standard solution was carried out for the customer, namely:

• automatic notification of process participants, which comes to e-mail, is configured;
• the list of possible options for selecting the result of the document review ("Out of Competence," "Reviewed with Comments," "Reviewed without Comments") has been brought in line with the customer's requirements;
• logic is set up and the possibilities of the role of the curator of consideration processes in terms of working with comments of ordinary reviewers are determined;
• You have set the format of a summary note sheet that the system automatically generates when the processes are complete.
• You have set up a mechanism to run documentation review processes again.

A typical business process module for reviewing system documentation has been developed from the beginning in such a way that it contains generally accepted concepts and mechanisms for reviewing documentation, that is, it is a universal tool that can be used immediately after installing the system with minimal and simple settings.

The activities of the customer have a number of features that are reflected in the business processes of working with documentation. Prior to the implementation of the system, the vast majority of the stages of such processes were performed manually using a standard suite of office programs.

An analysis of business processes was carried out and their maps were created, which formed the basis for their automation. For each process, participants were identified, their roles and responsibilities.

The plurality of documents uploaded to the system are historical data transmitted in an unordered form. For the correct organization of documents in the system, their systematization, the possibility of their search, etc., documents - historical data undergo a verification process, during which employees check the compliance of the current values ​ ​ of the properties of the document with its content and requirements for registration. In addition, the presence of development files is checked.

The result of passing the documentation through the verification process is corrected, correct data in the document cards, which facilitates further work with them.

Another important process is to modify the documentation. This is one of the main business processes related to the development of technical documentation. For the documentation to be modified, a separate area has been created in the project tree so that users can easily navigate the entire scope of documentation. In addition, the implementation team came to the conclusion that, given the complexity of the process, it is necessary to create an element of the Document for Modification system with a certain set of properties and statuses.

Documentation modification is the adjustment and updating of old technical documents for industrial facilities in operation, somewhat similar to the development of documentation for technical re-equipment. Using the system module of the universal business process, a modification process was created and configured.

The process was divided into stages. The system allows you to track and control the implementation of each stage of the modification, thus making it possible to understand what state the document is in and who is responsible for it at the moment.

During the modification process, the system automatically performs a number of operations according to pre-defined rules, saving employees' working time:

• Create new elements of a specific type based on existing elements in the system.
• Copying document files of type "Native file" with its name adjusted;
• adjustment of the document number;
• revision number correction;
• creation of two-way horizontal communication between elements, thus providing quick transition between them.

In accordance with the company's regulations, each document developed, depending on the content, must go through:

• Internal inspection only (document verification within one discipline with subsequent issue)
• intra-disciplinary inspection followed by interdisciplinary (document verification by different disciplines).

Customer processes are extensive and complex. Each process step was implemented in the system as an automatically generated task for the user according to the role in the particular process.

For the "Initial Verification" stage, the specialists of APPIUS-Digital Solutions LLC have developed a reference book "Verification Area," which stores templates for creating check sheets for different documents depending on their content (type and discipline).

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Фото: Appius

The flexibility of the program code made it possible to automate the paper verification forms that employees used in their daily work.

During the verification of the document, the process participants check the compliance of the design and content with each requirement listed in the checklist.

The list of inspection areas is automatically selected by the system depending on the properties of the document itself, such as group, discipline and type. Upon completion of the check, specialists sign the sheet with an electronic signature.

In addition, if necessary, you can print the result of the check, that is, the system automatically generates a document that corresponds to the layout approved by internal regulations.

One of the most important tasks of this Appius-PLM TDO implementation project was to ensure integration with the domestic CAD platform nanoCAD, thereby creating a single comprehensive environment for developing and managing documentation.

The integration module allows you to perform the following operations:

• Save documents
• Open DWG documents
• Block documents from being edited together
• Synchronize changes to document properties
• work with xref xrefs.

The document file is checked out in the system. After the file opens in nanoCAD, confirmation of the file's association with the Appius-PLM TDO database is displayed. The file opened from the system is stored by the component until the editing is completed. You can continue editing locally, close nanoCAD, document, etc. When you save a file to the system, the attributes of its blocks are analyzed and their values can be assigned to the system document whose file you want to save. This property synchronization, when saved, allows you to edit the file title block settings and immediately assign these values to the document properties. In addition, manual modes for synchronizing attributes and properties of the document using special commands are provided.

Taking into account the large number of personnel and the significant amount of information that needs to be learned by users, the training was carried out in several stages. First, several programs were compiled for different categories of users:

• System Administrator
• System Data Administrator
• Document Controller
• User

The training of the system administrator and the data administrator also took place during the configuration, i.e. the responsible specialists of the customer directly participated in the management of system settings, the creation and filling of master directories, the creation and configuration of new user accounts, work with system elements, etc. Training of ordinary users took place both offline, i.e. on the territory of the customer together with employees, and online. Several groups took part in a number of training workshops, after which video recordings of lessons were transmitted, as well as text instructions for working with the system.

During the implementation of the system, the customer saw prospects for further automation of the processes of working with technical documentation. For example, preparation of design documents that take into account the requirements for certification and other documentation for each unit of materials and equipment in accordance with internal regulations, ensuring the possibility of end-to-end tracking and linking of each individual unit of materials and equipment in various documents, preparation of documents required for construction and installation works, etc.

In addition, it is planned to increase the number of active users of the system, including external counterparties.