Case study. Automation of Auma document flow

AUMA client-server web system generates business proposals and quotations in the form of multilingual XML-documents. This drastically increases productivity of a sales manager working with an extensive line of products with various options and types

SOLUTION: Region Russian Federation Germany Technology Microsoft® .NET® Framework 1.1 ADO.NET ASP.NET MS SQL Server Microsoft Office 2003 Software development environment Microsoft® Visual Studio® 2003 Enterprise Architect – Web application ERWin 4.0 Data Modeler – Database Architecture SQL Server Enterprise Manager – stored procedures Visual Basic for Applications – Help system content Programming languages Microsoft® Visual C# .NET Microsoft® Transact-SQL Java Script (DHTML) XML (WordML) XSLT VBA Client and server products Microsoft® Windows® 2000 Professional Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional Microsoft® Office 2003 Microsoft® Internet Information Server 5.0 Microsoft® SQL Server 2000 Microsoft® Windows® 2000 Server Download file   AUMA client-server web system generates client proposals in the form of multilingual XML-documents, drastically increasing productivity of a sales manager working with extensive line (263 Kb) Other publications on   www.microsoft.com/Rus/

Web application built on .NET technology components (ADO.NET and ASP.NET), SQL Server technology and XML-features of Word 2003 provides AUMA sales managers with convenient tools to compose, store, modify and track AUMA business documents semi-automatically and simultaneously in several languages.

Reduction of time spent on creating, finalizing and processing business proposals for complex product lines and option lists

AUMA (Armaturen- Und Maschinen-Antriebe) Corporation is a manufacturer of electric actuators and valve gearboxes used in various industries, such as oil and gas, energy, mechanical engineering, shipbuilding, refinery, waste handling and water supply – in fact, in any application where the flow of water, oil or gas has to be controlled. (See more details on AUMA’s website http://www.auma.com/)

Auma equipment product line is wide. It provides a variety of solutions for numerous tasks with several AUMA equipment-based solutions for each task. Over 40 years of AUMA’s consistently high quality has won worldwide acclaim. That is why AUMA is facing an increasingly growing sales volume.

However, there is a wide range of types and options within the extensive line of AUMA products (actuators, valves and valve gearboxes). Without automation, it is difficult for a sales manager to prepare a detailed proposal or quotation for a client quickly. To create a proposal, sales manager has to dig in thick reference books to find information about available equipment options and their pricing. So initial proposal creation takes a lot of time, not to mention any changes to be made when the client alters project specification or modifies his request. Further finalization and approval of the proposal takes even more time as every change in the component leads to recalculation of the proposal specification and the total amount.

As a solution provider, Logrus suggested automating the procedure of proposal generation in AUMA. We offered a system that would enable AUMA sales manager to use equipment product line database quickly to create extensive and detailed proposals and quotations in no time. Logrus — also a well-known multilingual localization and engineering service provider — has designed the system to be multilingual from the very beginning.

Microsoft technologies-based solution 

Logrus developers decided to combine the power of SQL database with XML document generation capabilities and create a system that would comprise of a SQL knowledge base and XML document generation engine. The system had to have a single database repository of the entire product line documentation with a web interface enabling automatic document generation in several languages (currently English, Russian and German). As a fully web-based client-server solution, the system was supposed to be accessed by users from any location where they had a computer with a web browser and Microsoft Word 2003.

• SQL database is used to store hierarchical product catalogue and equipment options descriptions which can be changed independently and updated as the system is being used;
• Proposals are created automatically as WordML XML documents (supported by Word 2003). Such XML files include both text and graphics;
• Proposals are stored in SQL database in a single document repository with version control (versions are created at the final stage);
• There are a single central document repository, equipment catalogue with options, dimensions and pricing information, customer directory and multilingual user interface and help;
• When a proposal is finalized, its specification becomes a purchase order specification, and the same database information is used for automatic creation of a manufacturing order for AUMA production plant. Orders are created in German as they are placed with AUMA manufacturing facilities in Germany;
• The system has a user-friendly AUMA product line database;
• AUMA product database can be updated to reflect the latest changes in AUMA product line;
• More language options can be added to the system interface;
• The system has a context-sensitive help;

  «The system allowed us to get rid of paperwork and drastically saves time to generate or update a client pro­po­sal. Due to complete integration of equipment and document repo­si­to­ry, our managers are now spending only a tiny fraction of the time that they would spend before». George Ponosov General Manager, AUMA Moscow «This project demonstrates the power of Microsoft technology that really brings down the entry barrier for enterprise corporate systems, earlier available only on totally different price level.». Serge Gladkoff President, Logrus International

• It can be integrated with Microsoft Office productivity suite familiar to all users.
   

Deployment benefits

Now AUMA managers are enjoying a single automated equipment repository with product and document directories.

Conclusion

Microsoft technology allowed AUMA to deploy a business solution that automatically translates database equipment product line information into multilingual documents created with standard templates. The company’s most important segment of document flow — creating proposals and orders — has been automated. This is a data-driven and, therefore, very flexible system. It also provides the tools for automated document generation, storage and version control in several languages and layouts.