Beta@Work - Beta 99 in the mail-order business

Moving beyond kilometers of data lists
A leading mail-order company has introduced Beta 99, the comprehensive solution for document management, for the processing of its business documents.
 
Stacks of line mode lists
Up until recently, most material management tasks (stock management, purchasing, etc.) of the mail-order company were completed with the help of printed data lists. The unwieldy paper stacks were manually edited by the employees and forwarded from one office to the next. The reason for this method was the lack of an integrated solution combining the client/server workstations and the OS/390 host. Working with printed data lists has major disadvantages, which become even more problematic, as the amount of data grows: editing is a tiresome task, prone to errors, while distribution of documents is rather slow. The individual processing steps are sometimes hard to follow and the status of a task is virtually impossible to establish.
 
Wish list
An ideal solution must provide the following:

• Editing of the lists at the PC workstations
• Clear layout of the individual documents
• User interface support for the editing of lists (GUI)
• Automatic forwarding of the documents (workflow integration)
• Transparent processing steps
• Saving of original documents (revision backups)

The Beta solution
The mail-order company decided to acquire Beta 99, as it provides an optimized solution fulfilling all requirements. Beta 99 is the ideal interface between the OS/390 host and the workstations of the administrative staff. Thanks to state-of-the art technology including COM architecture, VB scripts and DHTML pages, Beta 99 provides a completely open solution that can be easily integrated into existing systems. Beta 99 thus has the capacity to process any document from any source. In addition, the Beta 99 output can then be transferred to any other software application (e.g. archiving solution) for further processing.
The system uses Action Sheets, which can be laid out to suit the specific requirements of the customer's front-end operation. Host list can therefore be represented on the screen in a well-structured manner. An Action Sheet can be used here like a frame held over the line mode list, so that the user can actually focus on the relevant information. The data is presented in a highly organized manner that allows for efficient editing. The documents are edited directly in the Action Sheets, whereby a backup copy of the original file is made, which thus remains unchanged.
Upon archiving, editing comments are attached to the original document as XML resources. The dual structure of the Beta 99 database server distinguishes between document- related information and the actual document:
Beta 99 saves all data in a secure NTFS area, while for each document, a meta data record is written to a SQL database. During the editing process, the user actually views the original document, while changes are made exclusively to the meta data record. Each modification is thereby identified with a time and editing stamp. The resulting Working Diary allows for the efficient tracking of the document, as it can at any time be established when and where changes were made to a specific document and by whom.
Due to the application of XML-based scripts, the distribution and further processing of the documents (workflow) is automated to a very high degree.
The obvious positive effects on efficiency and the considerable savings resulting from the use of Beta 99 are very good reasons for introducing the system in other departments.
 
Improved workflow thanks to Beta 99
 
The document management in the workflow is optimized and highly transparent.

• The mail-order company saves itself the cost of tons of paper and, at the same time, contributes to the protection of the environment.
• The documents are now combined in lists, which are readily available and can be edited in a highly efficient manner.
• The user-friendly Action Sheets make editing simpler, safer and more transparent.
• Original documents are automatically archived.
• The costs for storage and transport can be minimized.