Value of Technical Publications in the Electric and Electronic Industry

Position Paper on
Value of Technical Publications in the
Electric and Electronic Industry
The Writers Block
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Installation Manual
User Manual
Quick Reference Guide
Product Demo
Release Note
Online Help
Troubleshooting Guide
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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.
TWB is a leading technical publisher with an excel ent
Technical publications in Electric and Electronic
record of providing unmatched technical documentation
Industry include a wide variety of documents such as
to many major companies.
user guides, online help, reference guides,
administration guides, standard operating procedures,
instal ation manuals, troubleshooting guides, release
TWB is the ideal choice for leading vendors of Electric
notes, quick reference guides, research reports, and
and Electronic products. TWB helps customers with al
product demos.
their technical documentation needs such as user
guides, administration guides, instal ation manuals,
process and workflow documentation, configuration
The electric and electronic industry has experienced
documents and training materials.
enormous changes in the last few decades, and the
pace of its evolution is increasing. This industry has
grown because of government's thrust on it and also
TWB works closely with client teams located global y,
due to overal economic growth.
and assists them in meeting their worldwide product
announcements and launch deadlines. We work round-
the-clock with client teams and help them with quick
The industry has seen a growth of 20% and should
responses that facilitate timely distribution of documents
continue at the same level for the next few years.
around the globe.
These changes necessitate documentation of the
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
Thus there is tremendous potential for technical
competitive advantage. Knowledge is more relevant to
documentation in the electric and electronic industry.
sustained business than capital or labor. And yet
knowledge remains the most neglected asset of a
Due to the rapid growth of the Electric and Electronic
business. TWB helps you unlock and share your
Industry, the use of the electric or electronic products
technical knowledge with the world."
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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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 chal enges that
increasing customer inclination towards electronic goods
most companies face today include:
and services.
Lack of documentation during a product release or
India has positioned itself as one of the front-runners of
launch.
the rapidly growing Asia Pacific Region. This industry is
Managing large amount of information for new
one of the fastest growing industries in the country and
product releases.
is driven by growth in key sectors such as IT, Consumer
Applying cost-cutting measures while serving many
Electronics and Telecom.
vendors.
"The Indian electronics industry today stands at US
$ 25 billion. It is ranked 26th in the world in terms of
Creating and maintaining documents specific to this
sales and 29th in the world in terms of production. It
industry involves enormous capital investment in labor
is growing at over 25% CAGR and is expected to be
and technology. TWB provides documentation
worth US $ 158 billion by 2015."
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. TWB
The global electric and electronic industry is highly
provides continuous support to update product
fragmented, comprising of various auxiliary sectors
documents regularly with changing technology
namely electronic components, computer and office
advancements.
equipments, telecommunications, consumer
appliances, and industrial electronics.
Attaining the quality standards require huge capital
investment. Cost-cutting measures play an important
According to BCC Research, The global market for
function in increasing capital gains for companies.
power electronics was worth $9.8 bil ion in 2007. This
TWB provides technical documentation solutions that
is expected to reach $10.2 bil ion by the end of 2008
are at par with the industry standards, and within the
and $17.7 bil ion in 2013, for a compound annual
budget.
growth rate (CAGR) of 11.7%.
The U.S.market generated $2.1 bil ion in 2007 and is
Benefits

expected to generate $2.2 bil ion in 2008. This should
reach $3.9 bil ion in 2013, a CAGR of 12.1%.
Worldwide and US Demand for Power
For a leading electric and electronic company,
Electronics, 2007-2013 ($ Billions)
association with TWB has benefited them immensely
in saving costs and producing professional
documentation along with:
20
15
Transferring complex technical data into easily
i
l
i
o
n
s
10
understandable language
$

B
Protecting technical and commercial data of newly
5
developed products
0
Managing knowledge management and content
2007
2008
2013
management solutions, and single sourcing.

US Only
Worldwide
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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 point.
product knowledge to end users in a comprehensible
Hence, the style, language, and content must vary
manner. The strategies of communication and levels of
depending on the type of audience being addressed. It
information vary depending on the type of product and
is because every user has a specific role in the
audience.
implementation and usage of technology. Therefore, it
is important that documents be created keeping in
Providing end users with information about a product's
mind the role of the person who wil use the document.
operation and maintenance is critical to the market
performance of the product. Hence, the need for quality
For example, when you document a software
documentation is imperative.
application designed for highly technical users, it is
sufficient to provide the users with quick reference
In today's business scenario, technical publications are
information to use the application.
often developed as an afterthought. This usual y results
in inaccurate and incomprehensible documentation,
For users who start without technical or product
which, in turn, renders the users incapable of using the
knowledge, it is important to provide detailed product
products.
information along with instructions on how to use the
product.
Accurate, readily understandable, and quality documents
determine how a product sel s 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. Before a
product is released in the market, information about
The faulty assumptions listed below result in
the product needs to be effectively communicated to
incomprehensible documents:
the customers.
Developers know their products better than anyone
Wel -designed, accurately presented, and attractive
else - due to time constraints and limited resources,
marketing col aterals increase the market prospects of
many companies assign their documentation tasks to
a product and reduce support costs.
the programmers. This 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 wil not be a major obstacle for writers with
the right technical background.
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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 instal ing 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 al ows 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 wel -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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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 - Products/Corporate
Layout and Design
Profile
Installation Manual
Creating SLAs
Brochures and marketing collateral
Interface Document
Web content
Interactive Electronic Technical Manual
Business Documentation
(IETM)
Audio and video scripts
Maintenance Manual
Press releases
Business Proposals
Online Help
Direct mail
Legal Disclaimers
Operation Manual
Newsletter design copy
Policy Manuals
Product Demo
Sales catalogues
Style Guide Design
Product Specifications Document
Sales sheets
Template Design
Product Overview Document
Quick Reference Guide
Business Communication
Release Notes
Content Management
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
Online Help /Context Sensitive Help
Illustrations
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 Guides
Competition
Retrieval
Operations Manual
Forecasting
Sales Force Effectiveness
Market Assessments
Competitive Intelligence
Opinion Leadership
Emerging Markets - evaluation and
research
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TWB Software Tools Expertise
Our technical proficiency in software and authoring tools includes:
Unstructured Content
XML Structured Editors
Multimedia /Authoring
Development
Epic
Adobe Flash(R)
Microsoft Word(R)
FrameMaker+SGML
Adobe Dreamweaver(R)
Adobe FrameMaker(R)
X-Metal(R)
Microsoft FrontPage(R)
Adobe InDesign(R)
Adobe Captivate(R)
QuarkXPress(R)
Macromedia Captivate
Adobe PageMaker(R)
Graphics/Animations

Multimedia /Authoring /
Illustrations
Adobe Flash(R)
Supporting tools
Adobe Photoshop(R)
Adobe Flash CS4 Professional
Adobe Fireworks(R)
Adobe Flash(R)
Adobe Illustrator CS3
Adobe Flex(R)
CorelDRAW
Adobe AIR(R)
Online Help
Microsoft-Expression Graphic
Adobe Dreamweaver(R)
Designer
Adobe Acrobat(R)
Xara Xtreme (Windows & Linux)
JavaHelp
Microsoft Silverlight(R)
CuteDraw
Adobe RoboHelp 7.0
Adobe Authorware(R)
Publisher3D(for animation)
HelpScribble
Adobe Director(R)
Sketsa SVG Editor (for vector
WebWorks Publisher
Adobe Captivate(R)
graphics)
PowerCHM
Trivantis Lectora(R)
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(R)
AICC
XML
Adobe Photoshop(R)
W3C
Adobe Illustrator(R)
Section 508
Adobe Fireworks(R)
XMetal(R)
QTI XML
Microsoft Silverlight(R)
Microsoft Word 2003(R),
Microsoft Word 2007(R)
Databases
Development and Publishing
tools
CMS/ LMS
Microsoft Access
XSLT/XSL
Microsoft SQL Server
EDD
Sharepoint(R)
Moodle
Flowcharting
Joomla,
WordPress
Media Wiki
Microsoft Visio
CMS Builder
iGrafx
Author-it (formerly AuthorIT)
EDraw
Alfresco
RFFlow
Flowbreeze
Smart Draw
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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 / +91.80.41256367
+1.512.586.8357
Corporate Enquiries: corp@twb.in
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