ASIATEK Inc - EPM Technology's new partner in Taiwan and China

They also have expertise in CALS environment planning and implementation, including the development of Interactive Elect-ronic Technical Manuals (IETM). These integrate text, digital video, audio, graphics and multimedia information relating to applica-tions ranging from training and logistics to diagnosis and maintenance.

Currently, ASIATek are working with the Civil Engineering Department of National Taiwan University on a demonstration project using TEXCEL's Inform-ation Manager (IM) software product for CALS-based const-ruction management applic- ations. The aim is to improve the efficiency of managing a large scale construction project. A concurrent legal document approval process will be used as an example compared with the traditional legal document approval process to show the benefit of using BPR, SGML, workflow, and database tech-nologies. In the traditional legal document approval process, it takes too much time to deliver, and get reviewers feedback and suggestions for approving a legal document within a hierarchical structure.

The IM is a multi-tiered software suite and uses SGML format to store the documents in a database. Users can build their own repository with a multitude of document types and share these documents among them. At the core of the system is the Repository Manager, a secure, multi-user, SGML data server. End-user applications for workflow, electronic review, authoring, browsing, document assembly, and repository administration are the gateways to the system. The end-user interfaces are highly tailorable to satisfy a wide range of user skills and preferences. Applications communicate with Repository Manager and one another via the Application Manager, a multi-channel message broker. The applications are implemented using a true client-server architecture at the database level. This distributed architecture allows users to plug in existing applications and integrate seamlessly with other information management systems in a company. Additionally, the Repository Manager architecture supports transparent integration with external SQL data-bases so users can immediately take advantage of existing data stores without expensive conversion. Reusable document components make content authoring and publication more efficient and effective in wide variety of applications ranging from technical publications to web site management.

To simplify the management control, all documents used in the demonstration project are collected in one database. As for security, consider the person who needs to sign the documents may use electric signature with data encryption.

The above advanced IETM and SGML/XML projects including other CALS related activities make AsiaTEK the ideal partner to EPM for marketing and support in Taiwan and China. See ASIATek website - http://www.asiatek.com.tw/