Case study on how Oltmans Construction used Oracle Workflow and Oracle APEX to increase efficiency and compliance with CMiC ERP software. Discusses what design process was most successful and lessons learned.

1. NOVEMBER 9–10, 2020 #CONNECTU
NOVEMBER 9–10, 2020 #CONNECTU
BREAKOUT SESSION
BREAKOUT SESSION
HOW DID OLTMANS
CONSTRUCTION ACHIEVE
EFFICIENCY AND
STANDARDIZATION WITH
AUTOMATED WORKFLOWS? Rachel Barker
Business Intelligence Analyst

2. NOVEMBER 9–10, 2020 #CONNECTU
NOVEMBER 9–10, 2020 #CONNECTU
ABOUT OLTMANS CONSTRUCTION CO.

3. NOVEMBER 9–10, 2020 #CONNECTU
NOVEMBER 9–10, 2020 #CONNECTU
ABOUT OLTMANS – MARKET BREAKDOWN

4. NOVEMBER 9–10, 2020 #CONNECTU
NOVEMBER 9–10, 2020 #CONNECTU
ABOUT OLTMANS – CMiC TIMELINE
2015
INTRO OF
CMiC
• Jan 2015 – Dec
2016:
Redesigned
business
processes for
workflow
2017
CMiC GOES
LIVE
• Live CMiC
Enterprise V10X
• Live A/P
Registered
Invoice Workflow
and Subcontract
Invoice Workflow
2018
WORKFLOW
DESIGN
• Started re-
evaluating our
existing workflow
processes
• Began designing
new workflows
2019
WORKFLOW
S ABOUND
• Implemented new
and redesigned
workflows
• Implemented
Subcontractor
Prequalification
with redesigned
workflow
2020
CMiC
UPDATE
• APEX
Integration
• Dynamic
Workflow
Launching
• Custom Data
Validation for
Workflow
Parameters
2021
NEW ITEMS
FOR R12
• Fillable PDF
integration with
workflow
• REST API
integrations

5. NOVEMBER 9–10, 2020 #CONNECTU
NOVEMBER 9–10, 2020 #CONNECTU
HOW OLTMANS CONSTRUCTION USES WORKFLOW
Process
Documents
Faster
Eliminate
Redundant Data
Entry
Automate
Communications
Improve Our
Bidding Process
and Expand Our
Subcontractor
Base
Keep Our Team
Up To Date with
Timely and
Relevant Info
Improve our
Processes By
Analyzing
Workflow Logs
In Progress – Job
Closeout

6. NOVEMBER 9–10, 2020 #CONNECTU
NOVEMBER 9–10, 2020 #CONNECTU
WORKFLOW DESIGN AT OLTMANS CONSTRUCTION
Compliance Requirements
•Company Policy
•Laws
•Regulations
Identify Objectives
Identify Challenges
Establish Rules and
Constraints
Design Workflow to Fit
Your Unique Business
Process
Process Mining

7. NOVEMBER 9–10, 2020 #CONNECTU
NOVEMBER 9–10, 2020 #CONNECTU
RETHINK YOUR COMMUNICATIONS
ENGAGE DON’T
DISTRACT

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NOVEMBER 9–10, 2020 #CONNECTU
COMPLIANCE CHALLENGES
Compliance
Requirements
Challenges

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NOVEMBER 9–10, 2020 #CONNECTU
HOW WORKFLOW CAN INCREASE COMPLIANCE
Make it Easy For
Employees to
Enforce Compliance
No More
Searching For
Documents
Workflows Can Take
a Proactive
Compliance
Monitoring
Approach
Detect Possible
Violations Before
They Occur
Reroute processes In
Danger of Non-
Compliance with
Rules or Deadlines
Invoices in danger
of being paid late
take the express
route
Notifications help
you find problems
faster
Event Log Allows
Process Mining for
Business Process
Improvement

10. NOVEMBER 9–10, 2020 #CONNECTU
NOVEMBER 9–10, 2020 #CONNECTU
TURNING BUSINESS PROCESS RULES INTO WORKFLOW CONSTRAINTS
Time
Defined Period of Time
Before/After Events
Data
Single Data Objects
Multiple Data Objects at the
Same Time
Resources
Organizational Resources
Involved in the Business
Process
•Data-Related Constraints where data
refers to the resources involved

11. NOVEMBER 9–10, 2020 #CONNECTU
NOVEMBER 9–10, 2020 #CONNECTU
IMPLEMENTING BUSINESS PROCESS RULES IN WORKFLOW
Tools to
Impose
Constraints
•Workflow Definition
•Workflow Functions
•Workflow Trigger
•Table API (TAPI) & Transactional API
(XAPI)

12. NOVEMBER 9–10, 2020 #CONNECTU
NOVEMBER 9–10, 2020 #CONNECTU
WORKFLOW PROCESS OVERVIEW
Process Version
A specific version of the workflow
process definition
Caution! Changes to attributes
can cause issues with instances
on prior versions
Process Instance
• Specific active processes in the workflow
system
• Created when an event launches the workflow
process
• Follows the path in the workflow process
diagram
• Once activated, a process instance will continue
using that same process version
Subprocess
• A subprocess combines activities into
one process for the purpose of
organization and modularity
• A subprocess may return a result to the
main process to determine which path
the workflow proceeds upon
Functions
CMiC has a large library of functions
available for use in developing workflow
START

13. NOVEMBER 9–10, 2020 #CONNECTU
NOVEMBER 9–10, 2020 #CONNECTU
WORKFLOW LOOKUP RULES
1 2 3 4 The type of value being
used to do the lookup
Input Type
2
Output Type
The actual value that you
would like the Lookup to
return
3
Enter this as the value for
the Input Lookup Name on
the Lookup Function
in the workflow process
1 Lookup Name
The type of value used to
perform the Lookup
Lookup Results
4

14. NOVEMBER 9–10, 2020 #CONNECTU
NOVEMBER 9–10, 2020 #CONNECTU
WHAT IS A TRIGGER?
A trigger is a named
PL/SQL block stored in
the Oracle Database
and executed
automatically when a
triggering event takes
place.
The trigger can launch a workflow event.
The trigger can pass values from the user session to PL/SQL
Stored procedures and functions.
The trigger can be used for data validation.
The event can be any
of the following:
A data manipulation language (DML) statement executed
against a table e.g., INSERT, UPDATE, or DELETE.
A data definition language (DDL) statement executes
e.g., CREATE or ALTER statement.
A system event such as startup or shutdown of the Oracle
Database.
A user event such as login or logout.

15. NOVEMBER 9–10, 2020 #CONNECTU
NOVEMBER 9–10, 2020 #CONNECTU
Workflow Trigger
CREATE [OR REPLACE] TRIGGER trigger_name
{BEFORE | AFTER } triggering_event ON table_name
[FOR EACH ROW]
[FOLLOWS | PRECEDES another_trigger]
[ENABLE / DISABLE ]
[WHEN condition]
DECLARE
declaration statements
BEGIN
executable statements
EXCEPTION
exception_handling statements
END;

16. NOVEMBER 9–10, 2020 #CONNECTU
NOVEMBER 9–10, 2020 #CONNECTU

17. NOVEMBER 9–10, 2020 #CONNECTU
NOVEMBER 9–10, 2020 #CONNECTU
Workflow Generic Lookup Function
• Reads data from any table
• Returns values for up to 5 columns
• Filters data based on 5 key fields
and an optional Where Clause
Generic Lookup
Function
Generic Lookup
Function
• Output Field Names - names of the
attributes to store results
• Table Name - name of the table to
read. An attribute can be used to
store the value.
• Key Column & Key Value - name of
the column being used to filter the
result set and the corresponding
value
• Out Column - name of the column
holding the data to return
• Where Clause - use to enter
additional result set filter
Node Properties
Node Properties

18. NOVEMBER 9–10, 2020 #CONNECTU
NOVEMBER 9–10, 2020 #CONNECTU
WHAT IS APEX?
Oracle Applications Express (APEX)
• Declarative, web based application development tool
• Included as a no-cost feature of Oracle Database
• Has direct access to all of Oracle Database features
and capabilities
• Has REST API Integration Capabilities

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NOVEMBER 9–10, 2020 #CONNECTU
CALLING WORKFLOW FUNCTIONS ON DEMAND FROM APEX

20. NOVEMBER 9–10, 2020 #CONNECTU
NOVEMBER 9–10, 2020 #CONNECTU
CALLING WORKFLOW FUNCTIONS ON DEMAND FROM APEX

21. NOVEMBER 9–10, 2020 #CONNECTU
NOVEMBER 9–10, 2020 #CONNECTU
CALLING WORKFLOW FUNCTIONS ON DEMAND FROM APEX

22. NOVEMBER 9–10, 2020 #CONNECTU
NOVEMBER 9–10, 2020 #CONNECTU
CALLING WORKFLOW FUNCTIONS ON DEMAND FROM APEX

23. NOVEMBER 9–10, 2020 #CONNECTU
NOVEMBER 9–10, 2020 #CONNECTU
CALLING WORKFLOW FUNCTIONS ON DEMAND FROM APEX

24. NOVEMBER 9–10, 2020 #CONNECTU
NOVEMBER 9–10, 2020 #CONNECTU
PROCESS MINING
Pre Mortem
•Detect Deviations at
Runtime
•Prevent late payments
Auditing
•Know the transaction
history
Post Mortem
•Sequence of Events
•Examine the timing and
flow of events
•Key Performance Indicators
•Look at highest
performers – what can we
learn from them

25. NOVEMBER 9–10, 2020 #CONNECTU
NOVEMBER 9–10, 2020 #CONNECTU
HOW OLTMANS CONSTRUCTION STRIVES FOR EFFICIENCY
Collaborate and
listen to our
team
Look for the
high achievers
and utilize their
success to
improve our
processes
Analyze the
data with the
mindset of
helping people
Improved
Efficiency &
Increased
Employee
Satisfaction

26. CMiC Resource Center: cmicglobal.com/resources/
A recording of this session will be available ON-DEMAND starting NOVEMBER 11 for 90 DAYS.
NOVEMBER 9–10, 2020 #CONNECTU
NOVEMBER 9–10, 2020 #CONNECTU
Rachel Barker
RachelB@Oltmans.com
Oliver Ritchie
Oliver.Ritchie@cmic.ca