Position Paper on Value of Technical Publications in the Electric and Electronic Industry

1. Position Paper on
Value of Technical Publications in the
Electric and Electronic Industry

2. Installation Manual User Manual
Quick Reference Guide
Product Demo
Release Note
Online Help
Troubleshooting Guide

3. Introduction
This paper presents the value and need for quality TWB’s presence as a Leading Technical
Technical Publications in the Electric and Electronic
Documentation Outsourcing Company
Industry.
Technical publications in Electric and Electronic TWB is a leading technical publisher with an
Industry include a wide variety of documents such excellent record of providing unmatched technical
as user guides, online help, reference guides, documentation to many major companies.
administration guides, standard operating
procedures, installation manuals, troubleshooting TWB is the ideal choice for leading vendors of
guides, release notes, quick reference guides, Electric and Electronic products. TWB helps
research reports, and product demos. customers with all their technical documentation
needs such as user guides, administration guides,
The electric and electronic industry has installation manuals, process and workflow
experienced enormous changes in the last few documentation, configuration documents and training
decades, and the pace of its evolution is materials.
increasing. This industry has grown because of
government's thrust on it and also due to overall TWB works closely with client teams located globally,
economic growth. and assists them in meeting their worldwide product
announcements and launch deadlines. We work
The industry has seen a growth of 20% and should round-the-clock with client teams and help them with
continue at the same level for the next few years. quick responses that facilitate timely distribution of
These changes necessitate documentation of the documents around the globe.
updated processes and workflows, along with the
creation of user manuals for the product, and
product-specific configuration documents.
“Knowledge is people, money, learning, flexibility
and competitive advantage. Knowledge is more
Thus there is tremendous potential for technical
relevant to sustained business than capital or
documentation in the electric and electronic labor. And yet knowledge remains the most
industry.
neglected asset of a business. TWB helps you
unlock and share your technical knowledge with
Due to the rapid growth of the Electric and the world.”
Electronic Industry, the use of the electric or
electronic products makes quality documentation
important to both the vendors of these products
and the end users. The documentation needs to be
simple and comprehensible to end users, which
necessitates the involvement of technical
documentation specialists in the creation of
documents relevant to this industry.
“TWB believes that no technology can be
effectively used without being communicated
efficiently.”
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4. Electric and Electronic Industry – Technical Publications
Growth and Penetration of Electric and Challenges and Solutions
Electronic Industry in India
This sector has been growing at a rapid pace with the
invention of innovative technologies and an ever- Some of the greatest documentation challenges
increasing customer inclination towards electronic that most companies face today include:
goods and services.
 Lack of documentation during a product release
India has positioned itself as one of the front-runners or launch.
of the rapidly growing Asia Pacific Region. This  Managing large amount of information for new
industry is one of the fastest growing industries in the product releases.
country and is driven by growth in key sectors such  Applying cost-cutting measures while serving
as IT, Consumer Electronics and Telecom. many vendors.
“The Indian electronics industry today stands at
US $ 25 billion. It is ranked 26th in the world in Creating and maintaining documents specific to this
terms of sales and 29th in the world in terms of industry involves enormous capital investment in
production. It is growing at over 25% CAGR and labor and technology. TWB provides
is expected to be worth US $ 158 billion by 2015.” documentation solutions for creating and
maintaining product and process documents.
Growth and Penetration of Electric and The invention of innovative technologies in this
Electronic Industry in Global Market industry leads to a lot of changes. These changes
have to be documented and revised frequently.
The global electric and electronic industry is highly TWB provides continuous support to update
fragmented, comprising of various auxiliary sectors product documents regularly with changing
namely electronic components, computer and office technology advancements.
equipments, telecommunications, consumer
appliances, and industrial electronics. Attaining the quality standards require huge capital
investment. Cost-cutting measures play an
According to BCC Research, The global market for important function in increasing capital gains for
power electronics was worth $9.8 billion in 2007. companies. TWB provides technical documentation
This is expected to reach $10.2 billion by the end of solutions that are at par with the industry
2008 and $17.7 billion in 2013, for a compound standards, and within the budget.
annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11.7%.
The U.S.market generated $2.1 billion in 2007 and
is expected to generate $2.2 billion in 2008. This
Benefits
should reach $3.9 billion in 2013, a CAGR of
12.1%.
For a leading electric and electronic company,
Worldwide and US Demand for Power association with TWB has benefited them
Electronics, 2007-2013 ($ Billions) immensely in saving costs and producing
professional documentation along with:
20
 Transferring complex technical data into easily
15 understandable language
$ Billions
10  Protecting technical and commercial data of
newly developed products
5
 Managing knowledge management and content
0 management solutions, and single sourcing.
2007 2008 2013
US Only Worldwide
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5. Value of Technical Publications
Technical Communication for Communication for Different Levels of
Transferring Product Knowledge Technical and Product Knowledge
The purpose of technical communication is to transfer In technical publications, audience is the focal
product knowledge to end users in a comprehensible point. Hence, the style, language, and content must
manner. The strategies of communication and levels vary depending on the type of audience being
of information vary depending on the type of product addressed. It is because every user has a specific
and audience. role in the implementation and usage of
technology. Therefore, it is important that
documents be created keeping in mind the role of
Providing end users with information about a
the person who will use the document.
product’s operation and maintenance is critical to the
market performance of the product. Hence, the need
for quality documentation is imperative. For example, when you document a software
application designed for highly technical users, it is
sufficient to provide the users with quick reference
In today’s business scenario, technical publications
information to use the application.
are often developed as an afterthought. This usually
results in inaccurate and incomprehensible
documentation, which, in turn, renders the users For users who start without technical or product
incapable of using the products. knowledge, it is important to provide detailed
product information along with instructions on how
to use the product.
Accurate, readily understandable, and quality
documents determine how a product sells in the
market and result in increased customer satisfaction. Attractive Publications as Useful
Marketing Tools
Faulty Assumptions that Result in
Problems in Documentation Besides transferring knowledge, technical
publications are also used for marketing a product.
The faulty assumptions listed below result in Before a product is released in the market,
incomprehensible documents: information about the product needs to be
effectively communicated to the customers.
 Developers know their products better than
anyone else – due to time constraints and limited Well-designed, accurately presented, and attractive
resources, many companies assign their marketing collaterals increase the market prospects
documentation tasks to the programmers. This of a product and reduce support costs.
more often results in the creation of technology-
centered information, while end users require
task-oriented information.
 Documentation of complex applications requires a
longer learning curve for the writer - learning the
product will not be a major obstacle for writers
with the right technical background.
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6. Conclusion
 The Importance of Electric and Electronic Industry: The worldwide electric and electronic industry is
experiencing phenomenal and remarkable changes these days. The future seems prosperous for this
industry in terms of the expected surge in global demand and upsurge in investments. Increased foreign
investments have resulted in the accelerated growth in terms of electronic production and exports. Foreign
companies are now making huge investments and are installing extensive production capacities in
developing countries. The rapid pace of innovation in electronics technology is resulting in a consistent
demand for newer and faster products and applications.
 Value of Technical Publications: Technical Publications are very essential for transferring product
knowledge to the end users. Provisioning of proper material to use the technology and products enables the
user to accept and efficiently use the product. Faulty assumptions about documentation lead to inaccurate
and hard-to-understand material. This also reduces the changes to be made for marketing the products in the
global markets. On the other hand, good documentation is clear, easy to read and simple to understand. It
helps the user operate and maintain the system with ease. Good documentation allows products to be used
effectively.
 Role of Documentation Outsourcing: The complexity and growth involved in the electric and electronic
industry requires that companies look at outsourcing their documentation needs to well-established Technical
Publications Solutions providers. This helps the company cut costs and at the same time deliver their
products with quality documents.
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7. TWB Services
TWB is India’s leader in technical communication outsourcing and education. TWB offers a complete suite of services that
allows our customers to effectively publish their technical knowledge with their people and processes. TWB’s customers range
from Global 500 – including Cisco, Accenture, McAfee, LG, Samsung, Citrix, SAP, Siemens, AOL, Intel; Indian technology
majors – including Infosys, Wipro; Global defense majors - Pratt & Whitney, Honeywell, DRDO, HAL; and exciting technology
startups. TWB's expertise in technical communication ranges from IT Products and Outsourcing, ITES, Banking, Financial,
Aerospace, Defense, Ship Building to Hi-tech Manufacturing, and Discrete and Process Manufacturing.
TWB’s services include:
Technical Marketing Technical Product Documentation Quality
Solutions Documentation Management
 Datasheets
 Administrator’s Guide
 Datasheets  Copy Editing and Proof Reading
 API Document
 Cheat sheets  Managing Writing
 Configuration Guide
 Solution Briefs/Solution Brochures  Editing Services
 Functional Specifications Document
 Presentations –  Layout and Design
Products/Corporate Profile  Installation Manual
 Creating SLAs
 Brochures and marketing collateral  Interface Document
 Web content  Interactive Electronic Technical Business Documentation
Manual (IETM)
 Audio and video scripts
 Maintenance Manual  Business Proposals
 Press releases
 Online Help  Legal Disclaimers
 Direct mail
 Operation Manual  Policy Manuals
 Newsletter design copy
 Product Demo  Style Guide Design
 Sales catalogues
 Product Specifications Document  Template Design
 Sales sheets
 Product Overview Document
 Quick Reference Guide
Business Communication Content Management
 Release Notes
 Short Reports  Requirement Analysis Document
 Single Sourcing
 Proposals  SDK Document
 File Version Control
 Case Studies  Troubleshooting Manual
 Document Naming Conventions
 Lab Reports  User Manual
 Consistent Document Formatting
 Memos  Open Source Documentation
 Data Transformation
 Progress/Interim Reports  Programmers Guides
 Writing for Electronic Media  Functional Specifications Document
 Use Cases Web site Development
Illustrations  Online Help /Context Sensitive Help
 Web 2.0 development
 Troubleshooting Guides
 Graphic Designing  Web content

 Info graphics  Web applications
Qualitative Analytics for
 2D & 3D animation
Decision Support Translation and Localization
 Line drawings and illustrations
Services
 Economic Business Research
Process Documentation
 Industry Analysis  Software Translation Services
 Workflows  Market Opportunity Analysis  Document Translation Services
 Standard Operating Procedures  Competitive Business Analysis  Localization (L10N) Testing
 ISO Documentation  Company & Prospect Profiling  Internationalization (I18N) Testing
 CMM Documentation  Reporting Solutions
 Assessment of Unmet Market Needs Records Management
Deployment and Support  Status and Potential of Technologies
 Document Management Solutions
 Benchmarking of Strategies Vs
 Record Management Storage and
 Installation and Configuration Competition
Retrieval
Guides  Forecasting
 Operations Manual  Sales Force Effectiveness
 Market Assessments
 Competitive Intelligence
 Opinion Leadership
 Emerging Markets - evaluation and
research
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8. TWB Software Tools Expertise
Our technical proficiency in software and authoring tools includes:
Unstructured Content XML Structured Editors Multimedia/Authoring
Development
 Epic  Adobe Flash®
 Microsoft Word®  FrameMaker+SGML  Adobe Dreamweaver®
 Adobe FrameMaker®  X-Metal®  Microsoft FrontPage®
 Adobe InDesign®  Adobe Captivate®
 QuarkXPress® Macromedia Captivate
 Adobe PageMaker® Graphics/Animations
 Multimedia/Authoring/
Illustrations  Adobe Flash® Supporting tools
 Adobe Photoshop®
 Adobe Flash CS4 Professional  Adobe Fireworks®  Adobe Flash®
 Adobe Illustrator CS3  Adobe Flex®
 CorelDRAW Online Help  Adobe AIR®
 Microsoft-Expression Graphic  Adobe Dreamweaver®
Designer  Adobe Acrobat®
 Xara Xtreme (Windows & Linux)  JavaHelp
 Microsoft Silverlight®
 CuteDraw  Adobe RoboHelp 7.0
 Adobe Authorware®
 Publisher3D(for animation)  HelpScribble
 Adobe Director®
 Sketsa SVG Editor (for vector  WebWorks Publisher
 Adobe Captivate®
graphics)  PowerCHM
 Trivantis Lectora®
 Techsmith Camtasia  Doc-To-Help
 ASP.NET
 Arbortext IsoDraw (technical  WinCHM
 JSP
illustrations for 2D and 3D)  HelpSmith 2.1.1(Windows)
 JAVA
 Fast-Help
 MadCap Flare Standards
Graphics/Animation  Help-Server
 NVU Help
 SCORM 1.2 / 2004
 Adobe Flash®  AICC
XML
 Adobe Photoshop®  W3C
 Adobe Illustrator®  Section 508
 Adobe Fireworks®  XMetal®  QTI XML
 Microsoft Silverlight®  Microsoft Word 2003®,
 Microsoft Word 2007®
Databases Development and Publishing
tools
CMS/ LMS
 Microsoft Access  XSLT/XSL
 Microsoft SQL Server  EDD
 Sharepoint®
 Moodle
Flowcharting  Joomla,
 WordPress
 Microsoft Visio  Media Wiki
 iGrafx  CMS Builder
 EDraw  Author-it (formerly AuthorIT)
 RFFlow  Alfresco
 Flowbreeze
 Smart Draw
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9. Industries Served
TWB services a wide range of technology and knowledge-driven industries, helping them meet their markets better. These
include:
 Banking, Insurance and Financial Services  ITES/ KPO/ BPO
 Consulting and Business Services  Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology
 Defense, Aerospace and Hi-Tech Manufacturing  Process Manufacturing and Allied Industries
 Education and Learning  Steel, Ship Building, Construction and Aviation
 IT, ITES  Telecom and Digital Communications
TWB has been the preferred technical documentation outsourcing company for:
The TWB Building US Office:
No: 4062, 19th Main Road, TWB
HAL 2nd Stage, 11701 Norwegian Wood Drive
Bangalore – 560008 Austin, TX 78758
India.
Landmark: Behind Carlton Towers
Telephone: Telephone:
+91.80.40741400 / +1.512.586.8357
+91.80.41256367
Corporate Enquiries:
corp@twb.in
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