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+ + + EUROCONTROL RELiEs ON DiTA + + + six s igmA: QUALiTy impROvEmENTs iN TEChNiCAL COmmUNiCATiON + + + WhAT TEChNiCAL DRAfTsmEN iN viETNAm AChiEvE + + +

eurocontrol:

Safe operation doeS not come

eaSily to everyone

22. volume – 01/2009

contents

p. 02 ___offshoring in technical documentation: it doesn’t work? yes, it does!p. 03 ___using Six Sigma to achieve quality impro- vements in technical communicationp. 04 ___Safe operation does not come easily to everyonep. 06 ___industrial preparation of technical documentationp. 08 ___e-motion: 3d animation as the new dimension of technical communication

2 5 TWENTyfivE yEARs TANNER

02 03

zAB

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________ Offshoring, meaning the relocation of corporate functions and processes

abroad, is standard in the field of software development today. For example, since 2004 TANNER AG’s customers have been profiting from labor cost advantages as well as the high level of qualification of the employees at the TANNER Vietnam Ltd. subsidiary. Now, this concept has been broadened from software development and system integration to include individual tasks of technical documentation.

It sounds strange at first that preparation processes for technical documenta-tion should be relocated to Asia. However, especially for graphics (or non-verbal) tasks, international division of labor following the example of software develop-ment is just as possible and sensible. This is in large part due to the fact that the edu-cational level of technical draftsmen in Vietnam is similar to the level for program-mers. For this reason, it was only consistent for TANNER to also then relocate the preparation of technical drawings abroad if it adds value for customers.________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________ the advantage of experience_____________________________________________

In the implementation of the concept, it was possible to reduce lead times to a minimum. The teams for the creation of technical drawings at the locations in Germany and Vietnam were able to utilize the established process definitions and the well-oiled cooperation from software development over the last five years. For project organization, this means that project management and quality assurance are performed in Germany and the operational realization is carried out in Vietnam._______________________________________________________________________ Success proves us right_________________________________________________

"We have completed the concept status for the preparation of technical dra-wings in cooperation with our subsidiary in Vietnam and have already achieved great project success for customers," says Board Chairman Stefan Kügel. For example, this is how orders with large amounts of technical drawings in the field of power plant engineering systems are being realized at the moment. "Especially companies which create or have to digitize large volumes of technical drawings can profit from our offshoring offer," says Kügel.______________________________________________________________________t

Offshoring in technical documentation: It doesn’t work? Yes, it does!

editorial __________________________Do you still remember when you

received your first e-mail? In Germa-ny it was in the year in which Liechten-stein passed women’s suffrage, Apple launched the Macintosh, the space shuttle Discovery took off on its mai-den voyage – and Helmut Tanner foun-ded the company TANNER: 1984.

Twenty-five years have passed since then. A quarter of a centu-ry in which our goal has remained unchanged: Inspiring people’s interest in technology and making technology successful. The articles in this issue of "ABZ" exemplify this: You will read about an organization that uses the DITA standard to optimize European air-traffic safety, about the successful cooperation between Europe and Asia in creating technical documentation and about the introduction of the Six Sigma method for quality management at TANNER.

I wish you informative reading,

_____ Sincerely,

Stefan Kügel

02 03

22. volume 01/2009

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ t

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Using Six Sigma to achieve quality improvements in technical communication ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ abz interview

Continually improving the preparation and distribution of tech-nical information – TANNER as a service company has com-mitted itself to this mission for its customers for the last 25 years. The latest step along this path is the implementation of the Six Sigma method in quality management. In an interview with the ABZ editorial staff, Bernhard Oeckl, Quality Assurance Repre-sentative at TANNER, explained the advantages of Six Sigma from the customer's point of view.

Six Sigma is primarily known from the manufacturing indu-stry. Is this method at all transferable to technical documen-tation?

Especially during the "production" of technical informati-on, there is a multitude of constantly repeating processes simi-lar to those in a factory. The main concern is identifying those processes similar to those in a factory, making them measurab-le with Six Sigma, and analyzing and improving them sustai-nably. Six Sigma supports our goal of industrializing technical documentation.

Industrialization, meaning the production of technical infor-mation according to industrial processes and methods – what does this mean for the technical editor?

Industrialization in technical documentation does not mean assembly line work in the sense of Taylorism, but instead an enhancement of a technical editor’s work. It is a matter of completely omitting work steps which do not add value and automating activities adding little value. The technical editor is utilized in situations where his or her knowledge is actually necessary.

Does the quality also improve with Six Sigma?Quality is when the customer is satisfied. At the same

time, quality is the result of the processes involved. With Six Sigma, we can reduce lead times and costs for our customers. Six Sigma is directed at gearing the processes stringently at the customer’s requirements with the key word "voice of the custo-mer" and minimizing variation regarding appointments, costs and quality.

Wouldn’t that all have been possible without Six Sigma?Of course, that has been proven by our successful relation-

ships with our longtime customers. But it is also a fact that Six Sigma has significantly broadened our tool kit for continual improvement. Six Sigma is used in situations in which process improvement is not obvious. In addition, in doing so we comply with the requests of many customers who already use Six Sigma to carry out joint improvement projects in the field of technical communication. Thank you very much for the interview, Mr. Oeckl._______________________________________________________

milestones of tanner quality management

1993: First ISO certification Germany-wide of a service provider’s QM

system (DIN/EN/ISO 9001)

1996: First company in Bavaria to offer online QM documentation

2000: Certification according to the new, process-oriented standard DIN/EN

ISO:9001:2000

2004: Auditing of the software production at TANNER by Siemens Healt

care certifies TANNER’s compliance with FDA guidelines

2005: Successful supplier assessment by Nokia ("Approved Suppliers

of Nokia")

2005: Quality analysis of CSL Behring certifies TANNER as a trustworthy

partner in the field of technical documentation

2007: Implementation of SPICE (ISO 15504) for continual improvement of

the processes in software development

2008: Certification in accordance with KTA 1401 (Standards of the Nuclear

Safety Standards Commission – Quality assurance in nuclear power

plants)

2008: Bavarian Quality Prize in the field of "Company-oriented service

providers"

2009: Implementation of Six Sigma as a method of process optimization

_______________________________________________________

What is Six Sigma?

six sigma is a statistical quality objective and at the same time the

name of a quality management methodology. its core element is the

description, measurement, analysis, improvement and monitoring of

business processes using statistical resources. The six sigma achieved

its greatest popularity thanks to its success at general Electric (gE) in

the 1990’s. Today the method is applied worldwide – not only in the

manufacturing industry, but also in the service sector.

q

04 0504 05

Safe operation does not come easily to everyone_______________________________________________________

"Due to current traffic reports, your route is being recal-culated." Nearly everyone today knows, appreciates and relies on information from navigation systems. What makes reaching the destination comfortable for drivers on land is a matter of life and death for pilots on airways. Because where traffic lights and road signs are lacking, exact route calculation is a must. The prerequi-site here is reliable cross-border flight data Correctly collecting this data is the responsibility of the individu-al countries. Mistakes must not occur in doing so. Exact instructions are necessary for this purpose. In Europe, they are currently being redrafted – using DITA.Over 30,000 aircraft currently cross paths daily in European airspace. A number which is to nearly double by the year 2030, according to estimates. This places extreme demands on the management of international air traffic. Since 1963, the European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation "EUROCONTROL" has been responsible for this.

_______________________________________________________

eurocontrol coordinates the airspace of 38 european countries_______________________________________________________

Today, the supranational institution has 38 member states. It contributes significantly to training, research and operation in the field of air-traffic control and executes numerous projects for increasing efficiency and safety in air traffic. EUROCON-TROL offers an important service with the so-called European AIS Database, EAD for short. The EAD is the largest, most modern solution for the management of air-traffic information worldwide. Its data is used by airlines, private aircraft and other organizations for planning their flight routes. On the other hand, management is carried out by experts from the individu-al member states: These are civilian aeronautical authorities as well as commercial air-traffic controllers or military specialists of air-traffic management.

Each of them necessitates a deep understanding of the information model of the EAD, i.e. knowledge of database tables, database fields and their relationships. Therefore, the entry is subject to numerous quality and consistency regulati-ons which have partially been implemented in the system so far and must be partially communicated through editor’s notes. _________________________________________________________________________________________________________q

04 05

_______________________________________________________

making data management scalable_______________________________________________________

The person responsible for entering data into the system in the past was supported in doing so by various help docu-ments in various formats (HTML, DOC, PDF, etc.). However, increasing documentation requirements as well as additio-nal functions of new system versions have made it ever more apparent that the management process in its previous form was not scalable. For this reason, the so-called SIGMA pro-ject was drafted for the next generation of system and user documentation._______________________________________________________

In the process, the following requirements were defined:_______________________________________________________

q

Single-source approach for documentation management

q

"Single point of entry" for access to documentation

q

Diverse views of the European AIS Database (EAD)

q

Output in various formats (HTML, PDF) and target group specific publications

______________________________________________________

from zero to one hundred in three months_______________________________________________________

In the spring of 2008, EUROCONTROL decided to rea-lize the SIGMA project with an XML editorial system. TAN-NER was selected as the integration partner, while TriSoft/SDL was chosen as the supplier of the content-management system (CMS). Following detailed training, the international flight data service provider decided on the DITA architectu-re (Darwin Information Typing Architecture) as a data model. According to Georg-Friedrich Blocher, Board Member at Tan-ner, the rationale for this is very simple: "DITA does not only possess a high level of integration in the selected CMS and the XML editors used, but also covers the requirements regarding the role-specific views and cross-references using the topic-map approach."

According to Blocher, the greatest challenge in this project was the schedule. This was due to the fact that only three months could pass between the starting workshop and the initial publi-cation. "But with the well-engineered standard products from Trisoft, XMetaL and the information architecture from DITA, we had a clean basis for the project. Access to the database for member states was ensured by the web service based archi-tecture of the CMS. As the system integrator, we could thus then focus on the fundamental customer requirements in the project," says Georg-Friedrich Blocher._______________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________

intelligent use of standard functionalities_______________________________________________________

DITA did not need to be specialized for the project: "SIGMA is a software or system documentation," explains Luc Vermeulen, responsible for the project at EUROCONTROL. "As IBM originally developed the DITA standard exactly for this purpose, the information model suits our requirements very well." The solution partners were able to realize addi-tional requirements in a pragmatic way using further DITA features, such as XML attributes.

This also applies to publication: The effective use of stan-dard functions from the DITA Open Toolkit and the realizati-on of only the specific customer requirements through custo-mizing or so-called "plug-ins" was also successful here. Thus the publication is mainly based on the flexible filter options and variant functionalities of the CMS and the Toolkit.

The first result, an HTML publication with over 500 topics, was presented to those responsible for data management in the member states approximately three months after the project's launch. Since then, EUROCONTROL and TANNER have been working on the constant further development of the publication while new data has continually been collected.

Additional projects, for example an expanded PDF publi-cation, are planned for 2009. "With SIGMA, we have created an established basis for structured information management in our organization. We are optimistic that we will be able to handle our documentation projects sustainably with this," says Luc Vermeulen confidently, based on the course of the project so far.___________________________________________________________________________________________________________t

04 05

06 07

______________________________________________________Today, the preparation of technical documentation is no longer an isolated workflow, but is increasingly being integrated into the business processes. This applies for development and construction as well as for assembly, training and service. Only in this way can it fulfill the requirements which arise from shortened product lifecycles, internationalization, and a large number of variants, etc. The largest benefit which technical documentation can create is the reduction of the time required for a market launch. After all, a technical product cannot be marketed without documentation.

______________________________________________________Up to now, preparing each set of assembly, operating,

and service instructions or any another document as part of the technical documentation was an individual project. One instruction manual– one project, apparently independent of what happened with the product data beforehand, afterward or at the same time.

However, this equation increasingly no longer adds up. The demands from the market or the markets increase the pressure to produce technical documentation not only faster, but also as part of a systematic and controlled process. Now interaction of the work processes takes place … or lea-ves behind painful marks wherever it does not occur. That means that efficient production of technical documentation must be integrated consistently into the company processes. A clear strategy based on the model of industrialization is help- ful here.________________________________________________________

preparing technical documentation in an industrialized way?_______________________________________________________

Especially during the "production" of technical informa-tion, there is a multitude of constantly repeating processes such as those in a factory. In the course of industrialization, it is now a matter of identifying the factory-like processes, making them measurable, analyzing them and improving them sustainably as well as continually.

In doing so, industrialization as part of the technical docu-mentation should not be confused with assembly line work in terms of Taylorism. Instead, work steps not adding value are identified and eliminated without being replaced while activities not adding much value are automated. In doing so, the parties involved have the opportunity to concentrate on their strengths and core responsibilities more intensely.

The benefit of an industrial production process lies in the fact that lead times and costs can be reduced thanks to the re-use of standardized processes and contents as well as with an efficient workflow.

_______________________________________________________

the road to industrial production_______________________________________________________

Detailed analysis stands at the beginning of the road to the industrial production of technical documentation. Current steps are collected and documented: To this purpose, the exi-sting documents are first analyzed. Each individual informati-on module is scrutinized: Where is this information generated in the company? In the course of which activity is it produced? Where is it collected? How and to whom is it transferred? And how does it finally end up in the instructions? But also: Which information is not yet available and thus must still be created?

Examples for such information modules can be: Technical data and drawings from product development, photographs from marketing or item numbers from the ERP system._______________________________________________________process documentation _________________________________________________________________________________________

In order to achieve a comprehensive analysis, an exact observation of the system landscape within the company is also necessary: Which hardware and software is there? Which are push systems and which are pull systems? What does the data flow from the source system to the target system for technical documentation look like? Where are there interfaces? Is the data transfer automated at these interfaces or are there manual interfaces? Complete process documentation results at the end of this analysis.

Finally, weak points are detected, for example multiple acquisition and updating of data or manual intermediate steps. Here, automation is possible, even sensible. These work steps are optimized accordingly. The current order of the activities is tested and adapted, processes are expedited, responsibilities

_______________________________________________________

Industrial preparation of technical documentation

q Complex projects in the technical documentation field can no longer

be realized with conventional production processes.

_______________________________________________________ determined. The result is a clearly defined production process (process maps, process documentation, process equipment) for all involved parties. Important in doing so: The processes must be broken down into the smallest possible sub-processes and individual steps: Only in this way is the distinct transparency, measurability and the re-use of processes ensured in the reali-zation.________________________________________________________

example: technical drawings_______________________________________________________

Several work steps, for example master data collection, are already integrated in the business process. It is now the principal task to fit the additional steps, for example the pro-vision of pictures and technical drawings, into this workflow meaningfully and with the lowest amount of updating effort possible.

The handling of technical drawings illustrates as an example what such integration can look like in practice. As a rule, developers and constructors develop them in CAD systems. If the information modules are then published for the technical documentation, for example in a desktop publishing tool (DTP tool), the CAD drawings must first be converted into a suitable format. These work steps are measurable by time. Naturally, this also applies to the effort caused by sub-sequent updates or modifications by the development. This is because these modified drawings must be reconverted as well as added into the DTP document.

Depending on the scope and specific complexity of these workflows, automation can be worthwhile here. If a product developer then saves a technical drawing in the CAD system, it is automatically stored at the same time using a converter in a separate target structure in a suitable format (colors, scale, line width, fonts, etc.) and also automatically embedded at a defined location in the DTP document. Later modifications would also be updated in the DTP document during the save process. In the result, this sub-process for producing technical documentation is seamlessly integrated in the business pro-cess._________________________________________________________

result model 3d animation_______________________________________________________

In many areas of product documentation, the future belongs to non-verbal instructions. This is because in compa-rison for example with classic service literature with its mix of words and pictures, this will enable high quality and effici-ency demands to be better satisfied. The key word here is 3D animation. What holds for technical drawings, also applies in the same way to the re-use of 3D CAD data for producing this result model. Here production environments can also be built _______________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________today in which high-quality animations can be produced cost effectively. A standardized screenplay language and re-usable movement modules are central elements.

As part of this process, all movements performed during assembling or maintaining a machine can be derived from spe-cific basic movements such as "screwing", "pressing", "remo-ving". These basic movements are saved in the system as pre-defined modules and need only be called up and assigned when required.

In this way, individual movement processes can be re-used. This means that the same movement sequences will always be presented identically. This is easy to imprint on the user's memory. The fields of application of 3D animations are assem-bly instructions, marketing applications, classroom training, e-learning modules in the training field as well as classic service support.

In addition to the advantages listed above, the method is also significantly more cost effective than a conventional process for producing 3D animations. Due to the re-use and high level of automation of the movement modules, 3D animations can be created today already starting at a minute price of 1,000 Euro._________________________________________________________Standing still is moving backwards ________________________

However, industrial production processes are never "fini-shed". The measurability of exactly defined work steps results in permanent process tracking with regard to which steps work, but also which ones lead to stalling in the process as a whole. Additio-nal optimization potential can be derived from this. When such a continuous improvement process is implemented, the costs for producing technical documentation can be reduced drastically and logically, step by step. ___________________________________________________________________________________ t

06 07

q industrially produced 3D animations save time and money.

TANNER

leGal information______________________________________________________________________________________

Published byTANNER AGKemptener Straße 99D-88131 Lindau (b)T +49 8382 272-0F +49 8382 272-900E info@tanner.dehttp://www.tanner.de

Editor in Chief: Dr. Sven Bergert _________________________________________ This issue was edited and created with the collaboration of: Elmar Dutt, Andreas Hett, Stefan Kügel, Melanie Meyer

_________________________________________ Printing: Druckerei Kling_________________________________________

Reprinting in whole or in part requires permission in writing. TANNER AG assumes no liability for unsilicited manuscripts and photographs which have been submitted. _________________________________________ABZ is published six to eight times a year and is distributed to interested parties free of charge. There is no right to redress in law.

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________ Approximately 100 participants took advantage of the opportunity on Janu-

ary 28 and were informed at a German Association of Machinery Manufacturers (VDMA) event in Frankfurt concerning "Tools for the training and continuing education of service technicians". Ralph Muhsau, project leader at TANNER AG, was invited to participate as a speaker. In his talk on "Industrial 3D animation in training, e-learning and documentation", he illustrated the didactic and financial advantages which explain the current demand boom for 3D animations to the trai-ning and service leaders.

3D animation is the medium which is currently going through the most radical image transformation in the world of technical communication. This ranges from multimedia artwork to the product of automated work steps, from the high-end marking tool to the common tool of non-verbal action guidelines and from bud-get-intensive luxury merchandise to the cost-effective alternative for knowledge transfer. One could also describe the development especially within the last twelve months as democratization of a once-elite medium. Result: Today a multitude of industrial companies rely on video sequences in 3D, not only in the selling process, but also in the fields of training, e-learning and documentation.________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________ cause with two forms ___________________________________________________

Two factors explain this development: The didactic quality of 3D animations is nearly unbeatable for certain tasks of knowledge transfer or instructions for taking action. Whenever it is a matter of showing processes in a comprehensible way, making the invisible visible – for example the inside of units or machines – or demonstrating the same things in the same way, moving CAD data is the didactic medium of choice. If it weren’t for the costs.

Primarily, the financial aspect has prevented 3D animations from being used not only in sales, but also for assembly, service and maintenance. TANNER was able to change this dramatically in the recent past: with innovative developments in the production process, which facilitate the production of 3D animations with industrial processes and methods at a minute price of 1,000 euro.

But this is not the only reason companies still make use of this, which is still called a "new medium," for various usage situations in after sales. In doing so, they are proven to drastically reduce translation costs, can include corrections and vari-ants more quickly and less expensively with uniform quality and can also benefit from the efficient reuse of CAD models once produced.

"And which CAD formats can be processed with the production process you developed?" was one visitor's question at the end of the lecture. "All of them," was the TANNER instructor's concise answer.______________________________________________________________________t

E-Motion: 3D animation as the new dimension of technical communication TANNER AG

Kemptener straße 99, D-88131 Lindau (B)phone +49 8382 272-119fax +49 8382 272-900E-mail: info@tanner.de____________________________________________Braunschweig branch officeCarl-miele-straße 4, D-38112 Braunschweigphone+49 531 215-7858fax +49 531 231-7531E-mail: braunschweig@tanner.de____________________________________________Duisburg branch officeBismarckstraße 142, D-47057 Duisburgphone +49 203 2988-668fax +49 203 3466-443E-mail: duisburg@tanner.de____________________________________________Erlangen branch officeNürnberger straße 24-26, D-91052 Erlangenphone +49 9131 970028-15fax +49 9131 970028-88E-mail: erlangen@tanner.de____________________________________________Frankfurt-Eschborn branch officemergenthalerallee 77, D-65760 Eschbornphone +49 6196 77933-95fax +49 6196 77933-98E-mail: frankfurt@tanner.de____________________________________________Hamburg branch officeLübecker straße 1, D-22087 hamburgphone +49 40 702918-75fax +49 40 702918-83E-mail: hamburg@tanner.de____________________________________________Munich branch officefreisinger Landstraße 74, D-80939 münchenphone +49 89 321957-37fax +49 89 321957-34E-mail: muenchen@tanner.de____________________________________________Nuremberg branch officeRegensburger str. 334 a, D-90480 Nürnbergphone +49 911 21450-0fax +49 911 21450-11E-mail: nuernberg@tanner.de____________________________________________Paderborn branch officeBalduinstraße 1, D-33102 paderbornphone +49 5251 879718-11fax +49 5251 879718-88E-mail: paderborn@tanner.de____________________________________________Reutlingen branch officeAm heilbrunnen 47, D-72766 Reutlingenphone +49 7121 144934-0fax +49 7121 144934-20E-mail: reutlingen@tanner.de____________________________________________TANNER s.r.l. via g. mazzini, 2, 22073 fino mornasco, italyphone +39 031 40 525 00fax +39 031 40 525 01E-mail: info@tanner.it____________________________________________TANNER Vietnam Ltd.house 43D/8 ho van hue st. Ward 9, phuNhuan District, vN-70999 ho Chi minh Cityphone +84 8 39973-452fax +84 8 39973-465E-mail: vietnam@tanner.de____________________________________________Tanner Translations GmbH+Comarkenstr. 7, D-40227 Düsseldorfphone +49 211 179665-0fax +49 211 179665-29E-mail: info@translations.tanner.de

addresses_______________________________________