MMK shares its experience at IT industry forum
Dina Bakhareva, head of the ATACH project at MMK-Informservice, spoke about MMK Group’s experience of developing electronic document management. The electronic document management system designed and implemented by the corporate development department of MMK-Informservice, has been successfully operating at MMK for several years. Currently, it covers all MMK Group subsidiaries (more than 60 organisations), saving more than forty-thousand employees from routine paperwork. The electronic document management system allows MMK to automate an entire range of tasks related to working with documents, including creating, approving, signing and issuing orders and monitoring their execution. The technology helps to speed up information flows within the Group, as well as organise a unified information space, thus saving employees’ working time. The main advantages of the system are a simple, intuitive interface, high-speed performance and accessibility from mobile devices anywhere in the world. During the development stage, innovative approaches were used to design the interface and develop the system algorithms. MMK-Informservice offers a commercial version of the electrical document management system, named ATACH after the former name of Mount Magnitnaya, available for purchase by all interested parties.
The ATACH system is constantly being developed and refined in accordance with customer requirements. This year, specialists from the corporate development department of MMK-Informservice, developed and implemented a method for signing documents in MMK’s electronic document management system using mobile devices, tablets and smartphones. The new development allows MMK Group specialists and managers, using a cloud-based qualified electronic signature, to certify the authenticity of documents required for work and send them from anywhere in the world and from any device.
In addition, the Company is participating in a Federal pilot scheme (in accordance with Federal law No. 122-FZ of 24.04.2020) on the use of electronic document interchange (EDI) related to the work of employees. As part of the scheme, a new Personnel EDI module is being prepared, which will transfer a number of documents required by Russian labour legislation (employment contracts, annual leave schedules, etc.) into electronic form.
Another important area of digitalisation in the MMK Group is software robotisation of various business processes using RPA (Robotic Process Automation) technology. Sergey Krasilnikov, a leading specialist of the MMK-Informservice RPA Competence and Innovation Centre spoke about in his presentation. The centre was established in 2018 and has achieved significant success during its operation. The scope of the robotics project includes all main functional areas: finance and economics, accounting, supply and logistics, staffing and personnel.
Software robots help employees keep records and pay for raw materials, process sick leave electronically, place orders for workbooks, analyse transport usage, keep labour productivity records, collect and organise data from various sources, compare various documents, generate reports, and much more. The robots have become effective digital assistants which relieve employees from routine tasks and allow them to perform work that previously they simply did not have time for.
The Company’s development plans for this area envisage expanding the scope of the work to all MMK Group divisions and subsidiaries. Today, about a hundred RPA software robots are in commercial operation. The integration of software robotisation and technologies such as AI (artificial intelligence), ML (machine learning) and NLP (natural language processing) allows MMK to use RPA software robots to solve increasingly complex tasks. MMK-Informservice’s successful practical experience in the field of RPA has already attracted demand and is being used outside the MMK Group. A series of specialised webinars are currently being held. In addition, in 2020, MMK hosted the international conference “RPA Connect 4.0” with the participation of Russian and foreign companies – leaders in the field of information technology and business digitalisation. At the conference, representatives of MMK-Informservice shared their considerable experience in software robotics with other participants of the event.
The second industry forum “Information Technologies in Metallurgy and Metalworking” was organised by the publish house Connect. The main goal of the event was to create a constructive, independent platform for professional discussion on practical aspects of digital transformation in metallurgy. The forum was attended by over three-hundred participants from Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus and Uzbekistan. Among the participants were IT and information security professionals from large industrial holdings and individual enterprises working in the field of metallurgy and metalworking, as well as IT companies.