Document Control for Environmental Testing Labs — Atlantis NDT ERP

Controlled procedure and report management with revision traceability for ISO 9001/17020

Overview

Odoo Documents configured for NDT firms manages the full document lifecycle for controlled inspection procedures, work instructions, calibration certificates, and finalized client reports. Every controlled document (a UT technique sheet, a PAUT procedure qualified per ASME Section V, a written practice for personnel certification) carries revision history, approval workflow (draft, technical review, QA approval, release), and automatic supersession of prior revisions with old-revision access restricted to read-only/historical reference. Distribution control ensures only the current approved revision is accessible to field technicians via mobile, eliminating the classic audit finding of an obsolete procedure copy in a field folder. Client inspection reports, once approved, are stored immutably with full metadata (asset ID, method, technician, reviewer, date, applicable code) making retrieval for audits or repeat-client history instant. Retention schedules enforce record-keeping periods per code requirement (API 510 requires inspection records retained for the life of the vessel). Access permissions separate internal working documents from client-facing deliverables, and a client portal can expose only finalized, approved reports.

Why inspection and testing businesses run it differently

An ISO 17020 or ISO 9712-audited firm lives or dies on document control discipline — the single most common finding in NDT quality audits is a technician working from an uncontrolled or superseded procedure copy. This module makes that structurally impossible by tying field access to current-revision-only distribution, with old revisions locked from active use the moment a new one is approved. It also solves the practical problem of report retrieval: when a client calls asking for a UT report from three inspection cycles ago on a specific vessel, the answer is a search by asset ID, not a dig through email archives — critical for API 510/570/653 fitness-for-service and corrosion-trending work that depends on historical thickness data.

Capabilities

How the workflow runs

A new or revised procedure is drafted, routed for technical review (typically by a Level III), then formal QA approval before release. On release, the system automatically flags all prior revisions as superseded and removes them from active field-access lists — technicians pulling up procedures via mobile always see only the current revision. Completed inspection reports move through the same review structure (technician draft, Level III/QA review, client-approved release) before being locked as immutable records with full metadata tagging. Records are retained per the applicable code's required retention period, with disposal/archive schedules flagged for review rather than automatic deletion. During an accreditation audit or client due-diligence request, auditors or account managers search by asset, date range, method, or technician and retrieve the exact controlled document instantly, with the full revision-approval audit trail attached.

Standards and compliance covered

Integrations

Measured impact

Structured revision control has eliminated technician-working-from-superseded-procedure as an audit finding across firms that implemented hard field-access restriction to current revisions. Report retrieval time for historical audit or client requests dropped from hours of manual archive searching to under a minute via metadata search. Retention-schedule automation has prevented at least one documented instance of premature record disposal ahead of an API 510 fitness-for-service review that required 15-year-old baseline thickness data.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can field technicians accidentally access an old revision of a procedure on their tablet?

No. Mobile access pulls only the current approved revision by design; superseded revisions are locked from the active distribution list the moment a new one releases.

How long are inspection reports retained, and does the system enforce that automatically?

Retention periods are configured per applicable code, such as life-of-vessel for API 510 records; the system flags records for review at the retention milestone rather than auto-deleting, keeping a human decision in the loop.

Can we give a client read-only access to their historical reports without exposing our internal procedures?

Yes. The client portal permission scope exposes only approved, finalized client-facing reports; internal procedures, drafts, and QA review notes stay behind internal access controls.

Related: Atlantis NDT ERP · NDT inspection software · ERP modules · ERP by industry · Digital Twin platform. Request a demo and tailored quote.

Built for any business that runs on operations

Most companies do not fail at their craft. They lose time, margin and goodwill in the gaps between the tools they use to run the place — a quoting spreadsheet that does not talk to the job sheet, a job sheet that does not reach accounts, and a compliance folder nobody can search when a client asks. Atlantis closes those gaps by putting the whole operation on one platform, so information is entered once and everything downstream stays in step.

What you can run on it

  • Sales and CRM — leads, quotes, follow-ups and the pipeline that tells you what next month looks like.
  • Projects and job costing — plan the work, track the hours and materials against it, and see the margin while the job is still live rather than at final account.
  • Field and service teams — dispatch, schedules, mobile capture that works with no signal, and sign-off from site.
  • Inventory and purchasing — stock, suppliers, reorder points and goods receipt, joined to the jobs that consume them.
  • People — records, qualifications and licences with renewal reminders, timesheets, leave and payroll.
  • Quality and documents — procedures and forms under revision control, with the audit trail an inspection or accreditation body actually asks for.
  • Accounts — invoicing, expenses, multi-currency and the reporting your accountant stops chasing you for.

Affordable, accessible, fully customizable — and we mean each word

Affordable because the whole suite is included rather than sold to you a module at a time, and because implementation is done by people who have run operations rather than by a chain of subcontractors. Accessible because it runs in a browser and on a phone, works for a small team on day one, and does not need a specialist on staff to keep it alive. Fully customizable because your process is the thing that makes you competitive — the software should bend to it, not the other way round.

Industries we configure for

Service businesses and contractors, manufacturing and fabrication, trading and distribution, laboratories and testing houses, engineering consultancies, construction and facilities, and asset owners across energy, marine, aerospace and infrastructure. Inspection and testing is where we started, and it remains the sector we go deepest in — but the platform underneath is general-purpose, and most of what it does has nothing to do with inspection at all.

What happens when you get in touch

A short conversation, not a sales sequence. We ask how the business runs today and where it hurts, show you the platform doing that work, and send a written quote shaped to your region, your team size and the scope you actually need. No obligation, nothing to install first, and no pressure to decide on the call. Reach out and tell us what you are trying to fix.

Related: business management platform · inspection management software · choosing the right category of software · modules · by industry · asset integrity platform. Book a free consultation.