The systems used in today's industrial landscape are becoming ever more extensive and complex. Comprehensible, clear and structured plant documentation is essential. It not only ensures compliance with legal requirements, but also contributes to efficiency and safety in operation. Digital provision makes it easier for plant operators to access information for training, service and other [...]
Note: This text is an initial, subjective assessment of the new guide to the Machinery Directive, which is currently only available in English. On April 18, 2024, the EU Commission published a new guide to the Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC as version 2.3. The guide replaces version 2.2. By and large, with the exception of statements on technical documentation, there have been no [...]
It all started with the Product Liability Act, which first stipulated in 1989 that the safe operation of products must be guaranteed in every respect. This was followed in 1993 by the Machinery Directive, which explicitly stipulated this requirement for machinery and plant engineering. After a transitional period of 2 years, the Machinery Directive became a mandatory basis for manufacturers and [...]
I recently took a trip back in time. By chance, I got my hands on a set of instructions that I created around 20 years ago for a Cobi (https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/ConferenceBike). I still have fond memories of the research and creation of the instructions. At the time, it was the company's first and only product and [...]
Anyone introducing an editorial system is faced with the question of whether the existing documentation should be imported into the new system or whether everything has to be rewritten. Importing sounds tempting because it appears to be less work. However, the following comparison of customer thoughts and expectations shows what rework is necessary and what preparatory work is worthwhile [...]
Fully automated editing with COSIMA from DOCUFY The automation of tasks and the networking of IT infrastructure systems in companies are also becoming increasingly important for technical editing. During the regular tecteam tooltime, the focus is on the systems that make editors' daily work easier and meet these new requirements.
Jan looked out of his editorial window in Bremerhaven, where the waves of the North Sea were beating powerfully against the new barrage. He had logged into the editorial system, which had just received a Request for Documentation (RFD) from the metadata management system. Jan confirmed the request with a gesture. An avatar appeared on the screen and asked: "Hello [...]
Someone who knows something can check what they know for good quality, this applies everywhere, but especially in technical communication. A quality check in technical communication involves recognizing what is good, identifying errors, noticing what is missing and someone giving advice on how to make the result complete, error-free and correct [...].
As part of the biannual event "System Day - Automated Tasks and Processes in Technical Writing", STAR AG was a guest at tecteam on May 12, 2022 with the topic "Semantic Information Management". New requirements for technical documentation Mr. Gutknecht and Mr. von Lepel presented the new requirements for technical documentation, [...]
The topics of semantics and networked knowledge are becoming increasingly important in technical writing. But what is meant by "semantics" in this context and what added value does the use of semantic technologies offer? We're all familiar with this: a simple search query on the Internet also returns results that we can use in connection with [...]
