SAP Document Control


What Is Document Control?

Document control involves enforcing document management standards and organizing documents, information, and data in a consistent, standardized, and controlled manner. It ensures that documents are available for the necessary users, kept up to date, and contain approved and accurate information. Document control is a function of document management.

Document control includes keeping documents that are generated during a product’s lifecycle secure and consistent throughout the entire lifecycle. Businesses can use a content repository like SAP Document Management System (DMS) to ensure documents are stored in a central location and trackable or “controlled” as they move through the various stages of their lifecycle.

Data control is a significant part of document control and one of the benefits of SAP DMS.

Document management capabilities, including document control, are offered as part of SAP’s enterprise content management application, SAP Extended Enterprise Content Management by OpenText.

Several vendors provide DMS solutions that integrate with Docusign to provide document management capabilities.

Icertis offers Icertis Contract Intelligence, a contract management solution that includes a document management component.

What Does a Document Controller Do?

What Is Document Control?

Document control involves enforcing document management standards and organizing documents, information, and data in a consistent, standardized, and controlled manner. It ensures that documents are available for the necessary users, kept up to date, and contain approved and accurate information. Document control is a function of document management.

Document control includes keeping documents that are generated during a product’s lifecycle secure and consistent throughout the entire lifecycle. Businesses can use a content repository like SAP Document Management System (DMS) to ensure documents are stored in a central location and trackable or “controlled” as they move through the various stages of their lifecycle.

Data control is a significant part of document control and one of the benefits of SAP DMS.

Document management capabilities, including document control, are offered as part of SAP’s enterprise content management application, SAP Extended Enterprise Content Management by OpenText.

Several vendors provide DMS solutions that integrate with Docusign to provide document management capabilities.

Icertis offers Icertis Contract Intelligence, a contract management solution that includes a document management component.

What Does a Document Controller Do?

According to Randstad, an SAP customer and global human resources services leader, sitting at the forefront of remote workforce trends, a document controller is a controller responsible for the timely, accurate, and efficient preparation and management of documents. They control the numbering, sorting, filing, storing, and retrieval of both electronic and hard copy documents produced by technical teams, projects, or departments.

Who Needs Document Control?

Document control can provide benefits to any business. It is most commonly implemented in the following:

  • Engineering and construction industries
  • Businesses where documentation requires frequent modifications or updates
  • Companies that hold an ISO 9001 certification
  • Businesses where accessing reliable and updated documents is critical for continuity, compliance, or auditing
  • Businesses where large amounts of documents are produced or exchanged between entities.

 

1211 results

  1. How to Use FMEA to Improve Business Processes

    Published: 12/December/2014

    Reading time: 7 mins

    Learn how to configure settings for valuating detection actions, preventive actions, and effects in failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA). Receive tips on how to use the FMEA monitor to keep track of the progress of FMEAs. Key Concept A detection action stipulates the possibility of detecting a defect. A preventive action defines the preventive...…

  2. Understand and Extend SAP Access Control 10.0 Approval Workflow

    Published: 27/November/2012

    Reading time: 30 mins

    SAP Access Control 10.0 uses a Multistage, Multipath (MSMP) workflow engine (an enhancement of SAP Business Workflow) to achieve a flexible configuration process for approval workflows needed for SAP Access Control business functionality. Because of the huge customer base of SAP Access Control, the MSMP workflow engine was developed to be robust and flexible to...…

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    SAP has expanded its Sovereign Cloud capabilities in Australia and New Zealand to enhance data security for government and regulated industries, introducing an on-site solution that allows agencies to host managed cloud infrastructure in their own facilities and emphasizes control, compliance, and security.

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    SAP’s Three Critical Security Patches for November

    Published: 14/November/2025

    Reading time: 3 mins

    On November 11, SAP released 18 new security patch notes, including three rated as critical, targeting vulnerabilities primarily in SQL Anywhere, SAP NetWeaver, and SAP Solution Manager, urging users to apply these patches as part of their cybersecurity strategy.

  5. Borrow SD Functionality to Implement Export Checks for STOs in MM

    Published: 01/May/2004

    Reading time: 10 mins

    Stock transfer orders (STOs) in standard R/3 can be problematic because R/3 does not provide necessary foreign trade and export checks for STOs. The author demonstrates a helpful workaround to this issue by utilizing SD’s export check functionality and applying it to the STO document through a user exit. He also explains how to extend...…

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    Published: 06/March/2026

    SAP has named Manik Saha managing director of SAP Labs East Asia, a move that highlights continued investment in regional engineering talent and Business AI development.

  7. Why Shop-Floor Execution Is Still the Blind Spot of SAP® Manufacturing

    Reading time: 7 mins

    Despite advancements in data accessibility within SAP for manufacturing, a significant gap persists between planning and execution on the shop floor, where reliance on traditional methods undermines real-time visibility and responsiveness, necessitating a shift to integrating execution data seamlessly to enhance operational efficiency.

  8. Improve Your Compliance by Using VSOE-Based Revenue Recognition

    Published: 15/May/2007

    Reading time: 11 mins

    You can break down revenue recognition into two considerations — when to recognize the revenue and how much to recognize. Discover the procedure in your SAP system to apply the vendor-specific objective evidence-based fair value process to address these issues. Determine how much revenue to recognize when individual software elements are bundled in a product....…

  9. Simplify Your Bonded Warehouse Reporting with SAP BusinessObjects Global Trade Services

    Published: 04/May/2009

    Reading time: 14 mins

    Understand how to configure and set up bonded warehouse with SAP BusinessObjects Global Trade Services and SAP ERP Central Component. In doing so, you can meet the requirement of recording transactions and movement of goods within the free trade zone or bonded area with your logistics system. Key Concept When goods are imported into a...…

  10. Use Down Payment Chain Functionality to Improve Efficiency of Tracking Contractual Events

    Published: 13/July/2011

    Reading time: 18 mins

    Track contractual events that occur in long-term projects with the down payment chain functionality in FI. Walk through the end-to-end configuration of the functionality supported by process steps with an example. Key Concept SAP’s down payment chains functionality groups all the accounting documents that belong to one contract. It also allows you to structure the...…