EDF Energy - phase 1 of “flexi-docs” has now been implemented

Many business processes rely on the management of paper or electronic documents.  Maintenance of such information within conventional word-processed documents can lead to multiple versions of the 'same' information and the inability to re-integrate edited information with corporate data repositories.

“Flexi-docs” are, as the name suggests, flexible documents conforming to a template created by the application administrator.  Authorised users can then create and complete instances of these documents.  Whilst superficially similar to Word templates created to support specific business process, flexi-docs are managed and maintained within the application database, allowing the core business application to populate and access the structured information that they contain.  In this case, flexi-docs have been created as part of the EDF Energy IMS application which supports the capital investment planning and management process.  Flexi-docs will initially support the project funding approvals process, managed by a project funding board.  The administrator defines a template document in terms of its content and presentation.  The key advantages of this approach over a Word template are:

• Data that already exists in the application is used to pre-populate the flexi-doc (no re-keying)
• When data is changed in the flexi-doc, it is captured within the application and so the two remain in sync as there is only one copy of the information
• The document can be viewed and commented on by multiple users at the same time, with each being able to immediately see the comments of others
• Electronic document signoff ensures that the document can’t be altered once approved
• Documents can be exported to PDF or Word if required
• Any authorised user can create and edit documents using only a web browser
• Multiple document types can be created by the administrator without further effort from the developers.