July 17, 2003 -- Oce's new Digital Distribution Manager version 2.1 software drastically reduces the amount of time that designers and engineers spend on distributing their project documents, through a raft of new and simplified features. It increases accuracy and manages the whole issue process. Architectural, Engineering and Construction companies working on major projects distribute the latest version of their technical documents to all of the key partners and disciplines involved as and when changes occur. Without up to date information mistakes can happen and delays occur. To try and insure this doesn’t happen most organisations religiously record who has been sent what, why and when. This record or audit trail can be invaluable particularly for project management or in the event of a dispute. How does this information get recorded? An industry standard that has developed is the transmittal/issue sheet which is a matrix that captures the information above. This can be completed by hand or if you are more sophisticated using a spreadsheet. All the information has to be stored either in a binder on a shelf, or on a computer. The value of this information begins to decline rapidly if it is not very accurate or if it is misplaced or lost. Recording the information and managing it is a costly part of the process. In addition to this the documents must of course be produced and distributed. Now, Océ DDM v2.1 automates these procedures accurately, quickly and securely. Sets of documents can now reach their destinations in hours rather than days, via print, email or disk. The new process with DDMv2.1 presents the designer with a simple client software application. The designer selects the files to be issued (these can be native AutoCAD .dwg files) which form a batch list in a job ticket. Then a project is selected. The project has a predefined distribution list with information about how documents should be issued to who - for example, Email, disk or a particular hardcopy size. Once selected the documents are issued all at the click of a mouse. The documents are processed and printed and the issue sheet/transmittal is automatically created and printed with each set of documents. DDMv2.1 works well with Océ’s TDS600 system, that will fold the documents ready to go into envelopes. The documents can now be distributed. The system batch processes the .dwg files, converts these files into pdf/hpgl or tiff, and puts copies of the printed documents in a vault. DDMv2.1 extracts the document information from the AutoCAD title block, drawing number, revision, project name etc… All of this information is used to create the issue transmittal document, which is stored electronically in the vault as well. The system completely automates this process and saves designers valuable time, improves accuracy and provides excellent records and digital copies of documents. “Many of the Océ customers that have this system have established that it will pay for itself inside 8 months. You would be amazed how much time and effort doing this manually can take. The costs of rework and delays, doing it manually, makes this system an easy decision for many,” says Dominic Fahy, Océ WFPS Product Marketing Manager. “With the enhanced version of Digital Distribution Manager, Océ has once again proved the value of understanding how our customers do business,” said Nick Klitsie, Business Unit Director for Océ UK’s Wide Format Printing Systems division. “We have some prestigious construction firms using this software already, and with the improvements we’ve made, we’re very confident that our client list is set to grow substantially.”