Greetings,
Would like to add that for us handling clients with multiple nationalities, document language needs to be clarified. either trough a standardized naming convention on files, but preferably as one of the information fields on the document listing. We also need an ability to select multiple languages for any single document, as some documents (for example in scandinavia) contain multiple languages.
Secondly; i would like to see the ability to search the content of files, not just the header info. OCR scanned documents can be indexed, but i am unsure of the complexity of adding this type of search functions to the library.
Reason for this is to add an option to upload for example manuals and certificates to the document library, creating equipment in the equipment module, and then search for the correct corresponding document using serial numbers or model description found inside the documents.
We’re happy to share that we’re already implementing parts of your feedback in the summer 2025 release. One of the improvements coming is a more efficient UI for uploading documents from your device, which will reduce the number of clicks.
We’ll continue working on your other points in future releases, so I’ll keep your product idea in the To Be Considered stage for now.
I also wanted to ask for a bit of clarification to better understand your needs:
On the topic of document language:
Are you referring to tagging documents with metadata (e.g. language tags like English, Norwegian, etc.) so they can be filtered or identified more easily? Or are you talking about translating certificates and forms to multiple languages within the system? If you could also share a screenshot of which part of the system you’re referring to, that would be very helpful.
Regarding the ability to search the content of files:
Is your goal to search inside manuals and certificates so the system can help automatically tag or match them to the correct equipment based on serial numbers or model descriptions found in the content? Or is it more about making it easier to find documents?
Reason for this request is that each country has rules for the language of user manuals:
User manuals shall primarily be in the language of the nation where the equipment is sold.
User manual shall be in a language that the user can understand well.
Examples:
In Norway, user manuals must be in Norwegian, if the equipment in question is bought from a Norwegian supplier.
If the user manual was bought from a company outside of Norway, the user manual must at minimum be in English.
It is the equipment owners responsibility to ensure that the language of the user manual is one that the user can understand well.
In Norwegian offshore, it is often so that most equipment is purchased from Norwegian suppliers, who deliver Norwegian user manuals.
Yet many of the workers who use said equipment are from other nations, and does not speak Norwegian.
Tagging documents with its language lets us identify gaps in these requirements.
Translation of documents will be a totally different service, and could be a future business venture for Onix.
Searching content of files
Oversight agencies are turning up the heat on inspections, and are getting more aggressive in their inspection requirements.
As a result of this we are already seeing a lot more movement towards companies getting nervous about getting their hands on equipment documentation.
However, finding that documentation in Onix is a hard task.
What we need in order to find documents more effectively, is a way for us (in the equipment module, while handling equipment documentation) to search for text inside documents, and manually add them to equipment. Most often we would here want to search for things like serial numbers, manufacturers name, model descriptions, etc.
A forced OCR scan of all uploaded documents could potentially be the way to go?
Automatically adding documents to correct equipment is something I have tested out locally, and I find it to have a 15-20% error rate, which is unacceptable.
Automation would therefore have to wait until OCR and AI becomes a bit better. Maby in 5 years time? I know many are very optimistic about AI, and it does have massive potential, but currently the level of hallucinations and assumptions produced is creating more problems than solutions when precision and facts are the main goal.
Thanks for explaining in detail. I’m splitting these two suggestions into two new product ideas since they are not related to the original idea that you raised here. Please refer to them for updates regarding these topics.
