Microsoft’s latest Office software upgrade ushers in low cost ‘collaborative era’ for the manufacturing masses

“The most significant version ever” of Microsoft Office – the new XP – was launched yesterday: the software giant said specifically that it will bring the efficiency and power of ubiquitous collaborative working to manufacturing and engineering firms from within the standard Office environment, used by more than 320 million companies world-wide. “When effective collaboration is built into software used routinely by every department, it is a highly efficient way to improve productivity,” said Paul Burgum, Microsoft UK’s manufacturing marketing manager. “It overcomes the communications barriers between individuals, departments and supply chain partners where wasted time and misunderstanding so often occur.” Office XP, he says, will achieve exactly this particularly through three new features including SmartTags, SharePoint Team Services and ‘Send for Review’. SmartTags allow access to information sources and software to be embedded in documents, spreadsheets and e-mail messages. Whenever a specified group of characters occurs, the SmartTag is displayed so that users can instantly access related information, websites or applications. “SmartTags save time and improve the flow of information by making it immediately available where and when it’s needed,” said Burgum. “Because there is no need to open up and refer to another application or learn new procedures, barriers to accessing information from other departments or companies disappear. “Making the process of exchanging collaborative information this easy ensures implementation and acceptance will be much faster than is normal with major advances in manufacturing IT. The very simplicity of SmartTags gives them their power to transform the way we work,” he added. For instance, a SmartTag that recognises batch numbers in an e-mail message could link to related batch details. As well as static information, such as cost and completion date, these could include real time progress information, returned via a link to an ERP system. Similarly, orders placed with supply chain partners could be instantly checked when their identification codes appear in reports, spreadsheets or memos. Custom SmartTags can be used in this way as part of collaborative systems. Office documents, spreadsheets or messages can become an on-demand user interface to all sorts of systems. SharePoint Team Services – described by Microsoft as a “website-out-of-the-box” – provide a virtual ‘space’ for collaboration. They enable sharing of static and dynamic information through, for example, repositories for up-to-date drawings, reports and specifications. Features include a search engine and areas for announcements and threaded discussions for collaborative working. Since Share-Point is web-based, it is as useful to teams working at multiple locations as it is to those co-operating within the same factory. The speed with which the pre-built sites can be established also makes it attractive for ad hoc teams set up to handle short assignments. And for teams of more than 75, Microsoft also offers SharePoint Portal Services, with document management, version control and publishing features. “By including SharePoint in Office XP alongside Word, Excel and Outlook, we aim to make it a universally accepted business tool for everyday activity in manufacturing companies,” said Burgum. “We are putting the means of collaboration exactly where it is needed – at the heart of the working environment.” Finally, Office XP’s ‘Send for Review’ helps combine ideas and input: changes and additions to documents are identified and labelled, and an audit trail maintained. “All manufactured and engineered products begin as ideas,” said Burgum. “It is just as important to manage and develop these ideas in an organised way during stages when they are expressed as words and figures as when they are being realised in metals and plastics. “Send for Review helps ensure that ideas and the documents that contain them are evolve efficiently to the point where they can be used as a basis for production,” he added.