Acron Engineering Research and Design Centre (a member of Acron Group) has completed the implementation of the PDM (Product Data Management) system, which will help structure the document storage, monitor document flow throughout the system development lifecycle, and reduce the approval time.
Each year, the Research and Design Centre processes over 5,000 internal and external technical design specifications and over 2,500 sets of documents. Two hundred of the Centre's employees in several Russian cities now have access to digital processes such as the coordination of cross-discipline technical design specifications and engineering documents, their approval using digital signatures, and the monitoring of the document flow throughout the system development lifecycle.
As an integral part of the BIM technology, PDM system will serve as a hub to receive and transmit data for the information modelling developed by Acron Engineering, while the principle of one-time data entry and its further transfer to subsequent lifecycles will improve the data accuracy and consistency.
The development of the PDM system started in late 2022 by upgrading the IMSearch software to its advanced version, IPS Search, developed by Intermech (Belarus). For over 15 years, the Search software served as a secure archive for Acron Engineering and ensured the monitoring of the developed documents.
IPS Search was implemented by developers from Acron Engineering’s Information Modelling Support Department and Acron’s IT Department without any third-party integrators. This approach ensures high responsiveness in the system administration and development of new features.
The most important feature of the system is that the software has been adapted to the processes, which have developed over the years. This approach minimises changes to the system’s operation and helps avoid time-consuming retraining of the Centre’s personnel. Thanks to the new concept, the document flows have been integrated with the in-house AIS ERP system, while its features have been upgraded to the WEB technology to meet new requirements.
Andrey Kolosovsky, Director General of Acron Engineering Research and Development Centre, said: ‘Digital processes not only prevent potential losses, but also speed up the coordination of both technical specifications and documents to be issued. The timeframes for completing tasks within the approval process, as well as the reminder system will help our experts focus on current tasks. Automated time tracking will simplify the planning, monitoring and reporting of document development’.