Check out the bottom of this post for a video summary and demonstration.

Organizations that use Oracle EBS attachments know that the ERP’s attachment functionality does not provide a method for quickly combining File Attachments. This was true in Oracle 11i and persists with attachments Oracle EBS R12.

While Oracle EBS provides methods for adding attachments to Oracle Records, each file is treated as an individual document. This is a valuable feature for Oracle Projects, where files (i.e., attachments) are regularly updated and changed. However, there are times when business processes need documents and attachments “grouped” or “combined” to present information to users effectively.

But when it comes to the Oracle AP Invoice approval process, the burden is on either…

1. Approvers to review each attachment individually before approving the invoice for payment, or
2. AP Users to invest time in gathering the required information and files needed to create a single PDF packet.

Manually adding Oracle AP Invoice Attachments

With Oracle AP Invoice payments, whether the payment is an expense report or a supplier issuing an invoice, information documenting what needs to be paid can come from many different sources (email, fax, print, portals, etc.) and with many kinds of files (PDF, Word, Excel, Emails with and without Attachments).

Let’s expand on the expense report example because these are often a few to dozens of attachments.

Let’s assume an employee received approval to attend an OATUG Ascend Conference. They buy the ticket (1 receipt), book the hotel and travel (2 receipts), plus any meals they need during the trip (as many as 12 receipts over the four days). This travel event could quickly generate a dozen receipts that must be reimbursed via Oracle Payables.

They return from the trip, snap a picture of all these receipts, fill out the travel expense reimbursement form, fire up an email, and send everything off to AP.

So now what? The effort to process these File Attachments and get them into Oracle EBS can be time-consuming.

First and foremost, all the files must be downloaded and staged, likely on the AP user’s desktop. Then the user has to attach the files one by one to the Oracle EBS Record.

Challenges in the Approval Process

The approval process begins once the expense information is added to Oracle EBS. The Approver gets a notification to “Approve,” so they then need to open each file individually, review them, and provide their final approval.

The process can be improved for the Approver by combining all the individual files into a combined PDF, effectively creating a final Oracle AP Invoice Packet.

This transitions the burden from the Approver to the AP user, who needs to invest time in downloading, converting, and merging files into a common file format type, i.e., PDF.

This typically involves downloading a copy of the files and using tools built into Office applications like Word, Excel, etc., or employing expensive applications like Adobe Acrobat to convert.  Furthermore, some applications like Adobe Acrobat cannot convert all the required file types such as EML or MSG files, which are copies of emails that often include additional attachments.

Automating Oracle EBS AP Invoice Packet Creation

AventX saves approvers’ and users’ time by automatically evaluating Oracle EBS invoices based on configurable criteria (e.g., “all invoices marked For Approval in the Last 24 Hours”) and then determining if those invoices have attachments.

If the invoices have attachments, AventX then exports those documents from the Oracle database, converts them to a standard PDF file, and combines them to create a single AP Invoice Packet.

From there, AventX can store a copy of the combined 15-page Oracle AP Invoice Packet back into Oracle EBS as a new File Attachment.

What About Unique File Types like Email Messages?

The AventX application has the unique ability to process .msg and .eml message files with embedded attachments. Suppose users simply save the email message and upload it as a File Attachment. In that case, AventX will extract and process the email message and any embedded attachments separately, converting and combing them into a single PDF! (Check out the attachments in the first image on this blog!☝️ You’ll notice that the .eml file has attachments embedded! 😊)

Want to Keep Your Compliance Officer and Database Administrator Happy?

AventX can take it one step further and move the combined file to a SharePoint Document Library. Then, just like a File Attachment, users can then click on the “View Document” button and see the AP Invoice Packet, which in this example is a 15-page PDF document that is a combination of PDF, JPG, PNG, and EML attachment types.

Here is the view of the AP Invoice packet that was moved to SharePoint. Notice how AventX adds additional information to the columns of the SharePoint Document Library.

Video Summary and Demonstration

We are pleased to announce that STR Software is participating in this year’s Modern Supply Chain Experience from February 13-15! You won’t want to miss this Oracle event focused on the best practices, strategies and solutions for modernizing your supply chain.

Below are some ways you can connect with STR Software during the conference.

eAM: Mobile Maintenance Panel

Are you interested in going paperless with maintenance work packets but don’t know where to start? Attend the “Partner Mobile Solutions” session on Wednesday, February 15 at 3:00 pm to hear Brent Lowe speak with STR Software customer ATI Metals about optimizing their use of Oracle eAM with AventX Mobile Work Orders. Get to Meeting Room LL 21 A a few minutes early to grab the best seats for this exciting panel discussion!

OPM: IoT Customer Case Study

We’ve all heard about the Internet of Things, but what organizations are actually using it? And is it making a difference? Join ATI Metals on Wednesday February 15 at 4:00 pm as they share how STR Software helped them automate data transactions between PLC/SCADA systems and Oracle Process Manufacturing. The session will take place in Meeting Room LL 21 D and will cover how ATI acheived real-time visibility into their manufacturing process.

Solution Kiosk

Check out all of STR Software’s supply chain solutions in the Solution Pavillion’s Maintenance Showcase at Kiosk 604. Kevin Kennedy and Beth Hughett will be on hand to talk about optimizing your use of Oracle eAM with printed work packets or mobile work packets.

Maintenance and manufacturing departments can also see how to leverage the Internet of Things (IoT) to automatically import machine data into Oracle.

Procurement professionals won’t want to miss our solution for tracking emails that include important documents like POs.

Can’t make it to San Jose?

Get event updates by following our Twitter and LinkedIn profiles!

Or, you can always contact us to learn more about any of our solutions for Oracle EBS.

The Company

Intergen is a power generation firm formed in the mid-1990s. Since its launch, Intergen has grown to provide over 2,800MW of capacity across four (4) advanced technology projects in the UK. Committed to providing uninterrupted energy solutions, Intergen developed over 150 stringent guidelines for operations and maintenance to ensure optimal asset reliability.

The Problem

Intergen uses JD Edwards EnterpriseOne Capital Asset Management (JDE E1 CAM) for maintenance planning and scheduling. Using this module, maintenance managers would print work orders to distribute to their maintenance staff for instructing and documenting repairs and preventative work. While native JD Edwards functionality only supports printing the first text attachment, Intergen’s strict maintenance guidelines frequently resulted in the need for multiple attachments to be included with each work order packet.

Consequently, maintenance managers would have to open up each attachment in its native program, print them separately, and then manually collate the attachments with the other work order. This inefficient and manual process caused many problems as work orders and attachments were printed out of sequence, resulting in errors. In just one facility, six (6) maintenance and engineering staff members would set aside other important activities to complete this time-consuming process.

The Solution

Ross Kohn, Engineering Coordinator at Intergen’s Millmerran plant in Australia, first came across AventX for JD Edwards CAM after Intergen launched an all-hands search for a solution that would help reduce the costs and errors associated with manually printing and collating work order packets. After reaching out to STR Software, Ross scheduled a discovery call to see a demonstration of AventX for JD Edwards CAM.

Ross quickly determined that AventX met Intergen’s requirement to print a work order with its associated attachments automatically and then brought in Veer Ranganathan, Intergen’s Business System Manager at the corporate office, to assist in evaluating the solution. Veer appreciated that the integration between AventX and JDE E1 CAM was “completely seamless.” According to Veer, “AventX is uncomplicated and at the same time serves the purpose of what we were trying to accomplish.”

Intergen purchased and implemented AventX for JD Edwards CAM to automate the work order packet printing process. Ross is now happy to report that the maintenance technicians have more free time to focus on more productive maintenance tasks that continuously improve asset reliability. In fact, Intergen is saving up to $415,000 a year through AventX across the company.

According to Ross, another great benefit of AventX is the peace of mind that all components of a work order packet are accurate and delivered to the printer as one print job. “One of the problems we had before AventX was that it was possible a technician could grab the wrong procedure or print an older version,” said Ross. “Now that it’s automatically linked, you know you’re getting the most up-to-date procedure. I’m very impressed with AventX.”

The Company

Graymont is North America’s second-largest supplier of lime and lime-based products with facilities across the United States and Canada and has a significant investment in Grupo Calidra, the largest lime producer in Mexico. Graymont also produces construction materials under its Materials Group operation.

The Problem

Graymont uses JD Edwards EnterpriseOne Capital Asset Management module (JDE CAM) for maintenance planning and scheduling. From this module, planners and schedulers print work orders for maintenance teams making repairs and doing preventative work.

Because JD Edwards only supports printing for the first text-based attachment associated with a work order, printing additional attachments requires users to open and print attachments in their native applications. This lengthy, inefficient process discourages users from attaching files at all, which is a real problem when safety documents are involved with a job. The result was a chaotic, error-prone, and unorganized process that involved multiple people working in multiple locations to produce a complete work order packet.

Considerable time and effort could be saved if this tedious process could be automated while also improving efficiency and enhancing safety initiatives.

The Solution

Bernard Lague and Iara Ramanauskas, both Graymont Maintenance Support team members, had been looking for an automated printing solution for quite some time. Then, Iara met STR Software at an Oracle Maintenance Summit event. After thorough research, Graymont chose AventX for JD Edwards CAM because it met the business requirement to print all associated attachments with a work order automatically. Graymont also learned that AventX could include image files like .tif and .jpg without leaving JDE. Needing exceptional support, Graymont also purchased STR Software’s premium maintenance support service.

The training was minimal, as the printing process for the planners and schedulers is virtually unchanged; only now, with AventX, all the attachments are printed and collated with the correct work order. This new automation greatly reduces the resources and time involved in assembling work order packets and improves wrench time for maintenance technicians.

Even before AventX was fully installed, Graymont began structuring its safety program around the ability to attach safety-related documents to work orders. Since AventX requires minimal manual involvement and supports version-controlled attachment retrieval, Graymont now feels confident that each work order packet contains the correct information to keep technicians safe on the job. According to Iara, the biggest improvement is the ability to “have the correct information ready to go at a moment’s notice, whether a work order needs to include parts lists, pictures of what has to be fixed, or lockout/tagout procedures. It’s a big plus because now people will actually be using the correct versions of the attachments.”

The Company

KGHM International Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of KGHM Polska Miedz S.A., is a major global copper producer. Focused on growth in copper, silver, and other metals, KGHM operates mines and processing facilities in four (4) countries—Canada, Chile, Poland, and the United States.

The Problem

KGHM uses the JD Edwards EnterpriseOne Capital Asset Management (JDE E1 CAM) module for maintenance planning and scheduling. From this module, planners and schedulers print work orders for maintenance teams making repairs and doing preventative work.

During the company’s Sudbury plant implementation of JD Edwards EnterpriseOne 9.0 in June 2012, challenges arose with some of the ERP’s native functionality. Following best practice, Sudbury had associated documents with each of their preventative maintenance work orders—text files, images, diagrams, and other attachments—that provide detailed instructions. Despite the smooth implementation, the planners and schedulers had an unresolved significant business requirement: easily creating and distributing work orders and their associated attachments in one collated packet. JDE E1 CAM prints work orders and their first text attachment, but the other attachments have to be opened separately in their native viewers (e.g., Microsoft Word, Adobe Reader, etc.) and then printed and collated manually. This lengthy and cumbersome process was a detriment to efficiency, something KGHM constantly works to improve as a key part of its overall asset reliability strategy.

The Solution

When Darcy Bains, Manager of Enterprise Applications at KGHM, met STR Software at an Oracle event in May 2012, he was excited to hear about their initiative to automate work order packet printing for JDE E1 CAM. Though the product, AventX for JD Edwards CAM, was still in development, KGHM agreed to beta-test the software. This arrangement allowed KGHM to determine if the solution fulfilled their needs while also assisting STR Software in fine-tuning the product after seeing it work in a real-world, dynamic JDE E1 CAM environment.

KGHM had a business requirement to print the first text attachment associated with a work order, which JDE E1 CAM can do; however, it cannot preserve any of the attachment’s formatting. With AventX for JD Edwards CAM, users were able to print all attachments, regardless of file format *and* preserve all formatting–all without ever leaving JDE E1 CAM. They were also able to print attachments from anywhere within their corporate environment: JDE database, network servers, SharePoint, or from a URL. No training was required since the process for the end user was exactly the same as it always had been.

After just one month of using the solution in production, Terri Vial, Maintenance Business Analyst at KGHM stated, “Printing with AventX is saving each planner the equivalent of seven weeks per year, and we have six planners at the Sudbury plant. That equals forty-two weeks per year; almost the same as saving a full salary for another person!” And, since less manual involvement is required and version-controlled attachment retrieval is supported, KGHM can feel confident that each work order packet is correct, complete, and ready to go at a moment’s notice. This also increases wrench time, advancing the company up the Maintenance Excellence Pyramid.

After the initial success at Sudbury, KGHM implemented AventX for JD Edwards CAM at its additional sites and plants.

About Barrick Gold Australia

Barrick Gold Australia, based in Perth, West Australia, is a regional business unit of Barrick Gold Corporation. It operates nine mines in the Australia Pacific Region. Barrick Gold Corporation, headquartered in Toronto, Canada, is a global leader in the gold industry, with 26 operating mines and significant land holdings on five continents.

The Problem

At the core of Barrick Gold Australia’s operation is a fleet of heavy- and light-duty machinery crucial for mining and production. The maintenance of these assets is managed through the Oracle EBS R12 Enterprise Asset Management (eAM) application. One of the key functions of Oracle EBS eAM is tracking assets and scheduling maintenance through work orders.

Barrick Gold Australia generates 300-400 work order packages daily across six regional sites. Each package includes a work order report and 12 or more document attachments in various formats, such as MS Office documents (.xls, .doc, and .ppt), formatted output (.pdf, .pcl, .ps), and image files (.jpg, .gif). These attachments contain essential information about past maintenance activities, safety guidelines, step-by-step instructions, and equipment diagrams.

The problem? The process of printing these work order packages was entirely manual, involving printing reports, opening attachments, and collating documents. Given the high volume, this task was highly inefficient, consuming 40 hours per week and incurring substantial costs for Barrick Gold.

The Solution: AventX for Oracle eAM

To address this challenge, Barrick Gold Australia turned to STR Software’s AventX for Oracle eAM, a solution that would automate the work order package printing process, eliminating manual steps. Chris Abbott, System Administrator at Barrick Gold Australia, discovered that AventX was the solution they needed.

AventX seamlessly integrates with Oracle EBS, enabling more than 600 users at Barrick Gold Australia to submit print requests as usual. AventX then takes over, automatically printing work orders and attachments, collating documents, and stapling them together. As Chris put it, “AventX is transparent in the Oracle experience and works so well that we forget it’s there.” He added, “The print function is easy, straightforward, and simply put, it works!”

AventX brought unexpected benefits as well. Barrick Gold Australia saw a 30% to 40% improvement in EBS printer utilization after implementing AventX. This is because AventX closes each concurrent request as soon as the data is generated, moving document translation and printing to the background. Previously, Barrick would process data generation, translation, and printing within the concurrent request, causing delays when multiple sites submitted requests simultaneously.

Additionally, AventX helped address Barrick Gold’s EBS database growth issue, which was accumulating 30 GB each month. With AventX for Oracle eAM, Barrick Gold references and prints work order attachments stored in Microsoft SharePoint, eliminating the need to upload large work order attachment files to the EBS database.

STR Software’s AventX Product Suite is designed to streamline, manage, and automate document delivery processes from Oracle E-Business Suite, enabling companies to reduce operating costs, minimize administrative demands, and maximize the value of their IT investments.

The Company

Minnkota Power Cooperative, Inc. supplies wholesale electricity to parts of North Dakota and Minnesota. Since implementing STR Software’s AventX for Oracle EBS in 2006, Minnkota’s purchasing department has enjoyed the benefit of automated document delivery via fax and email from Oracle EBS. Minnkota Power also streamlined its document management process within the maintenance department by adding STR Software’s AventX for Oracle eAM.

The Problem

To coordinate the maintenance of expensive operating equipment and electrical plants, Minnkota Power Cooperative leverages the Oracle EBS module, Enterprise Asset Management (eAM). Minnkota Power uses Oracle’s eAM module to create “work order packets” comprised of a work order report output and associated database attachments such as step-by-step instructions, diagrams, checklists, and spreadsheets.

Originally, creating work orders and extracting the corresponding database attachments was a completely manual task, causing a significant drain on productivity. Users created a work order by submitting a print request to Oracle’s Concurrent Manager that printed the order (or batch of orders) to a local printer. Next, each corresponding work order database attachment had to be opened in its native viewer (i.e., MS Word, Adobe Acrobat) and printed to a local printer. Finally, users collected the printed output and manually matched the attachments to the appropriate work order, creating a packet. At Minnkota Power, a dozen employees create 9,000 work order packets per year in this inefficient manner. Tim Sanger, Systems Programmer II, estimates that each packet took anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours to produce – at least 4,500 man-hours per year.

The Solution

Eager to increase efficiencies and automate the work order printing process, Minnkota Power installed STR Software’s AventX for Oracle eAM. During the first use of the solution, a complete work order packet was printed easily: a single print request to Oracle’s Concurrent Manager automatically collated and printed the output to the desired printer. “The users are very happy to accomplish other tasks while the work order packets print,” said Sanger, “The best part is, we did not have to perform any user training – they just print as they did before, but now the output contains the attachments.”

The purchasing department is taking advantage of the latest product offering as well. Often, when sending faxes electronically, purchasing is required to print and store hard copies of purchase orders and their related database attachments (i.e., terms and conditions). Now, with a single request, purchasing can see exactly what was faxed to the vendor and file the documents accordingly.