21. volume – 01/2008

+ + + Making the Most of 3D publishing + + + froM authoring to inDustrial processes + + + the future belongs to the MDM approach + + +

Contents

p. 02 __ _ OASIS releases DITA Version 1.1p. 02 __ _ TANNER Vietnam becomes

member of VINASAp. 03 __ _ Now CAD data moves toop. 04 __ _ S.A.M.S. – complete production process for

technical documentationp. 06 __ _How editorial expertise and CMS can make for a more efficient translation processp. 07 __ _ PIM or MDM: market survey investigates the

differencesp. 08 __ _ TANNER reconfirmed as Special Partner for SAP NetWeaver MDM

zaB

02 03

Editorial __________________________Conventional methods of crea-

ting documentation are becoming increasingly less capable of meeting current requirements.

Based on its 24 years of expe-rience as a leading service provider, TANNER has developed its own pro-duction method for technical documen-tation, called S.A.M.S. This method replaces conventional authoring pro-cesses with industrial processes, writing with configuring, layout work with publishing and information research with information provision. In this edi-tion, we’ll be showcasing S.A.M.S.

Another main article also fits into this context. In many areas of pro-duct documentation, complex written instructions may soon be a thing of the past. Non-verbal instructions, such as 3D animations, will better meet the high demand for quality and efficiency in many places. We have developed a highly-automated, market-ready pro-cess for creating 3D animations. How did we do it? Read this issue to find out!

_____ Sincerely,

Stefan Kügel

zAB

________________________________________________________________Effective May 2008 TANNER Vietnam Ltd. is an official member of

VINASA, the National Software Association of Vietnam. Currently more than 100 IT-corporations are members of VINASA, most of them leading software-corporations in Vietnam.

The main function of VINASA is to act as an intermediary between IT & software development companies and the Vietnamese Government, but also to protect and promote the interests of VINASA members. VINASA currently maintains its head office in Hanoi and a branch-office in Ho Chi Minh City.__________________________________________________________________________ t

TANNER Vietnam becomes member of VINASA - Vietnam’s National Software Association

OASIS releases DITA Version 1.1___________________________________________________________________The DITA Technical Committee of OASIS (Organisation for the Advancement of Structured Information) has announced the release of DITA Version 1.1. Following publication of the 1st version of the DITA Standard in 2005, the Technical Committee developed it further, produced Version 1.1 and finally put it through a public testing process. ___________________________________________________________________Now OASIS members have agreed on the new version of the standard and

released it as an OASIS Standard. Version 1.1 consists of four different units: architecture specification, language specification, schema and DTD implemen-tation. The main changes compared with Version 1 are improved support for book production and better options for extending data:

bookmap specialisation, taking account of book-specific information (structures for bibliographic and title information) glossentry specialisation for glossary entries in books indexing specialisations: elements for index entries in books (e.g. c.f., see also), for page areas and sorting improved options for scaling graphics new “abstract” element for summaries specialisation support for new global attributes and partial processing “foreign” element for including XML structures that are not known to DITA “data” and “unknown” elements for integrating new and unknown content.

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q for more information visit Vinasa’s website: www.vinasa.com

02 03

______________________________________________________In many areas of product documentation, but especially in the service environment, the future will lie in non-verbal instructions. Compared with traditional service literature using words and pictures, these are able to meet the high standards for quality and efficiency more effectively. The key concept here is 3D animation. Now Star Engineering GmbH and TANNER AG have come together to make this option more readily available to their customers.

______________________________________________________Good service literature has to overcome a number of

challenges: it must be equally understandable to a very wide range of target audiences, and the content must be structured unambiguously yet at the same time concisely. It is also impor-tant that it should be available and up-to-date at all times, and finally there must be no language barriers. A technician in Mexico or China working on a high-end “Made in Germany” product must be able to start his work immediately, without wasting any time, just as easily as a German-speaking service employee. There are inherent limitations in two-dimensional representations in text and pictures.______________________________________________________ Making the most of 3D publishing ______________________________________________________

Today, in the age of 3D publishing, a vast volume of data is available to authors, just waiting to be put in the right context. The art lies in channelling and restricting this vast quantity in order to convey information as simply as possible.

The partnership between Star Engineering and TANNER is based on this maxim. Together, the two companies use all the available 3D CAD data, but in different areas of application. By separating knowledge- and system-based activities, both

______________________________________________________ sides are able to apply their specific skills. Star Engineering GmbH, as a former subsi-diary of DaimlerChrysler AG, with its broad technical knowledge and understan-ding on the one hand is the ideal partner for TANNER AG, who are pioneers in technical documentation, with their concepts for process con-trol and industrialisation. In short, the essence of the coopera-tion is that Star Engineering provides a script, which TANNER then makes into an animated film. In these animated service instructions, their different skills complement each other to produce an end product that is innovative in the true meaning of the word.______________________________________________________ Reuse of movement sequences______________________________________________________

The process of creating the animations is based on the idea of an “adapted MTM concept”. MTM (Methods-Time-Management) is a method used by planners to calculate the duration of work processes. By analogy, this means that all the movements that have to be represented can be traced back to certain basic movements. These basic movements such as “screwing”, “pressing” or “stripping” are stored in the system as predefined modules and just have to be called up and para-meterised as required. The benefits when producing new instructions result from the possibility of reusing movement sequences. This means that movement sequences which occur again are always represented in exactly the same way.

The key feature of animated service instructions is their natural simplicity, which reflects the fundamental principle of technical documentation – to convey information simply and unambiguously. The concept has now completed its test phase and has already been successfully implemented for a number of customers.

The Star-TANNER philosophy is markedly different from the approach taken by others in the market, and offers the customer many advantages. In addition to those described above, this method also brings definite cost benefits for the user. Thanks to the principle of reuse, and the high degree of automation of the movement modules, animated service lite-rature based on 3D data can be offered at prices from approxi-mately 1000 euros per minute. _________________________________________________________________________________t

21. volume 01/2008Now CAD data moves too

_____________________________________________________Technical documentation is now playing an increasingly important role as a factor affecting time and costs – especially in companies with a great many products, a wide range of different models, short product life cycles and a high proportion of exports. Many companies already have already had customised system-based editing environments set up or are toying with this idea in order to cope with the ever growing requirement. TANNER is now taking a new approach by opening up its own, system-based production process S.A.M.S. to interested customers.

____________________________________________________Nowadays, anyone who has to create, manage and trans-

late large quantities of technical documentation cannot avoid using an editing system. However, the economic benefits and the gains in quality and process security have to be weighed against the cost of implementation, training, licences, support, updates and maintenance. It is mainly worthwhile in large edi-ting departments or if such a system is used by a large number of customers. This is the idea behind S.A.M.S.

S.A.M.S. is far more than “just” a content management system. It consistently applies industrial criteria and require-ments to editing processes. S.A.M.S. is based on TANNER’s expertise, built up over more than 20 years, in:

methods such as standardisation, modularisation and structuring

standards such as XMl and Dita

processes based on the division of labour

editing, content and standards

tools such as editors, content management systems and translation

memories

S.A.M.S. is in use at TANNER and has been available to customers for three years. The technological foundation is an editing system based on Astoria.

The system replaces conventional authoring processes by industrial processes, writing by configuration, layout by publis-hing and information research by information provision. In this way it supports the overriding aim of producing high-qua-lity documentation efficiently.

“With S.A.M.S., we can make quantifiable performance promises to our customers,” says director Georg-Friedrich Blocher. “Then companies know how much they can reduce their translation costs and through-put times and to what extent improvements in the quality of their information and documents

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____________________________________________________ can be expected.” This is all possible because S.A.M.S. makes the whole production process measurable and transparent.

Because S.A.M.S. supports processes that are distribut-ed or based on division of effort, a number of different scena-rios are possible for using it. External editors can work with S.A.M.S. and use all its functionality and workflows. The updating of information can also be handled by TANNER employees; our contacts at the companies pass on the relevant material.

Combinations involving the leasing of TANNER per-sonnel or the complete outsourcing of responsibility for docu-mentation are also possible. The concept offers companies not only efficiency and security but also flexibility. The following scenarios demonstrate the wide range of possible ways we can work together. ____________________________________________________ From process partnership to outsourcing_________________

In a process partnership, the customer’s editors research all the necessary information for development and make it available online. TANNER deals with the modularisation, reuse, linguistic quality assurance and consistency of the texts that are provided. TANNER employees then handle the publi-cation of the German document. Once this document has been definitely approved by the customer, TANNER begins the

translation management process and publishes the documents in all the languages required. Finally, TANNER sends the data for printing or deposits the PDF files on a web server.

With full outsourcing, a production company concen-trates on its core competences and consistently subcon-tracts all work related to collecting, editing and publishing information. Technically competent staff at the compa-ny support the information research process as required and ensure that the information is factually correct. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________ t

04 05

S.A.M.S. – complete production process for technical documentation

04 05

ARTICLE SERIES PART I

How editorial expertise and CMS can make for a more efficient translation process

____________________________________________________This is the title of the workshop to be presented at this year’s tekom annual conference by Margot Poschner from TANNER. The text below summarises its content in a two-part article. This edition describes the editorial principles and the next “ABZ” will describe their technical implementation using a CMS.

______________________________________________________It is a proven fact that a content management system

(CMS) can significantly cut the proportion of new translation work that is required. However, especially in companies with a wide range of different models, short product lifecycles and many target languages, once the system is used in practice, it all too often fails to deliver the hoped-for added value. The poten-tial benefits of working with a CMS – especially regarding the translation process – can only be realised if the editing and development processes are closely intermeshed. ______________________________________________________Keyword: reuse ________________________________________

The expenditure, in terms of time and money, on creating and translating material is reduced proportionately as the amount of material that can be reused increases, as a result of:

standardisation and modularisation of content and data

potential for reuse thanks to a cMs

translation management system that allows delta translations

______________________________________________________Editorial principles for avoiding new translation work ______

The foundations for the possible reuse of content are laid when it is first entered in the editing system. Material can be standardised in terms of language, structure and content. Any potential for standardisation and reuse that is not captured here cannot be exploited later in the translation process.

Structural standardisation is most successfully achieved by using an appropriate method such as Funktionsdesign©. This defines rules for the sequence of information (“sequencing”). The system defines terminology, sample phraseology and rules for writing, to support the editor in linguistic standardisation. ____________________________________________________ q

Continued on page 6

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_______________________________________________________Like standardised components in the construction of

machines, standardised content in technical documentation can be reused. In order for it to be possible to use a module in different contexts, it must not contain any information from its original context. The generalised information that is produced can be reused with greater flexibility.

Editorial measures that can be taken to generalise content include, for example, avoiding the use of technical data in run-ning text, and encapsulating recurring material. ______________________________________________________ Creating alternative versions ______________________________________________________

Nevertheless, there are limits to the generalisation of con-tent. In the interests of good understanding, it is sometimes not possible to avoid product-specific content (e.g. the installation position for a component in a housing). However, provided that large parts of the module apply to more than one product, it is worth creating options for alternative versions within a module.

Version-specific parts of a module can coexist side by side, provided they are highlighted accordingly (e.g. by an attribute on an XML element). When it comes to publication, filters can be used to include or exclude the parts for a particular versi-on. ______________________________________________________Classification of content ________________________________

Standardising content also means classifying and sorting it. It is sensible to classify by:

q type of information (e.g. at chapter level, “technical data”,

“Maintenance information”)

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q structure of the product (e.g. modular structure of machine

parts)

In many cases, classification can take place in more than one dimension (e.g. by chapter and by assembly). Whether the clas-sification information is made “visible” by using metadata, file names or in the file structure depends largely on how the process for searching for and accessing modules will be configured. ________________________________________________________ t

ARTICLE SERIES PART I

06 07

06 07

______________________________________________________What changes have there been for companies in the field of product communication over the last two years? Lucas-Nülle Consulting sought to answer this question with its “2007 Market Survey”. The most striking change compared with the previous survey in 2005 is the differentiation between Product Information Management (PIM) on the one hand and Master Data Management (MDM) on the other. The survey shows that there are different visions behind the two models.

______________________________________________________Between February and June 2007, 11,000 companies were

asked to report on their internal experience of PIM and MDM. Over 350 datasets from companies in the DACH market were submitted and form the basis of this survey. ______________________________________________________Awareness of product communication is growing ___________

Across the two clusters of “Industry” and “Commerce” that were investigated, the survey comes to a two-part conclu-sion. Compared with 2005, companies were paying far more attention to the subject of product communication. However, the figures also seem to show that the underlying status of pro-jects and IT systems in companies has barely changed in the last two years. This suggests that the majority of companies are still keeping their data in an uncoordinated way in several different distributed systems. ______________________________________________________

The future belongs to the MDM approach ______________________________________________________

Whereas the market survey in 2005 looked at MDM systems and classical PIM systems all together, the current survey presented the two approaches as strategic alternatives: “Companies with a lot of master data, a global organisatio-nal structure and a lot of pressure to synchronise data tend to focus more on the MDM approach,” say the analysts from Lucas-Nülle Consulting.

The MDM approach offers the opportunity “to act as a central platform for all forms of information and master data, and make them available to all other systems.”

If this approach is applied consistently to all applications in the company – i.e. also to Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Customer Relationship Management (CRM) etc.– this results in a service-oriented IT structure which calls up the required services on the basis of central master data, and is able to handle processes, transactions and even, for example, outputs. On the whole, says the survey, the MDM approach takes a “far more strategic view than PIM”. _____________________________________________________________________t

______________________________________________________Best Practice HANSA-FLEX ______________________________

one example demonstrating the positive results of the MDM approach is

that of catalogue production by hansa-fleX hydraulik gmbh. since June

2006, the company has been producing its printed and online catalogues

directly from sap netWeaver Master Data Management (sap netWeaver

MDM). tanner ag is responsible for the complete system from system

implementation through to the finished catalogues.

PIM or MDM: market survey investigates the differences

LNC

0

50

100

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100

Percent

Repeated updating of product data

Annual maintenance expenditure for each article

96 min

34,0 %Approx. 20 minutes

2,0 %

Ø HANSA-FLEX

Ø HANSA-FLEX

LNC

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5

10

15

20

25

Weeks

Updating of main catalog

Creation of new main catalog

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8

16

2

Ø HANSA-FLEX

Ø HANSA-FLEX

LNC

153 min

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50

100

150

200

Minutes

Annual expenditure for adapting each article

0,15 min

Ø HANSA-FLEX

q hansa-fleX now only has to update 2% of its products. at 10 to 30 minutes per product, the annual time spent on data maintenance is well below the industry average of 96 minutes.

q it takes hansa-fleX 16 weeks to produce its catalogue, far less time than before. in terms of updating, it takes the company two weeks, well below the industry average.

q the time it takes to amend items in the internet catalogue is also very short at hansa-fleX. Despite having 35,000 items on view, the company spends on average less than 10 seconds per item.

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, Margot Poschner, Lena Sattler

_________________________________________ Printing: Druckerei Kling

Reprinting in whole or in part requires per-mission in writing. TANNER AG assumes no liability for unsilicited manuscripts and photo-graphs 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.

TANNER AGkemptener 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 2988-688fax +49 203 346-443e-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 +49 8382 272-141 fax +49 8382 272-900e-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 9973-452fax +84 8 9973-465e-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_______________________________________

SAP Deutschland has confirmed TANNER as a “Special Expertise Partner” forSAP NetWeaver Master Data Management (MDM). SAP awards this status tothose partners who have particular competence and expertise in SAP NetWeaver MDM and have demonstrated this in successful projects. The award is further evidence of the close partnership between SAP and TANNER. ___________________________________________________________________

Last year, TANNER was granted the status of “Special Expertise Partner” for SAP NetWeaver MDM for the first time. In now confirming this status, SAP is recognising TANNER’s expertise and con-sultancy skills across the whole open integration and applicati-on platform.

Underpinning the cooperation are the joint services that are provided in the field of Product Information Management for producing technical documentati-on and product catalogues on an industrial scale.

Special Expertise partnerships are only awarded by SAP for one year at a time. The efficiency of SAP partners is reviewed in an annual procedure. This year, a considerable number of new partners have been named in the MDM field. These include, as well as TANNER, T-Systems and company consultancy firms such as Accenture, BearingPoint and Steria Mummert Consulting.

“Nowadays, product catalogues and, increasingly, technical documentation are generated and published directly from the main ERP system,” says Georg-Friedrich Blocher. “Here, TANNER AG has brought together all the necessary technical expertise about the interaction between brand communication, process expertise and system knowledge, to produce highly integrated IT scenarios”, says the TANNER AG director, confidently. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ t

q At www.sap.de/mdm

you can find all the information about the subject of Master Data Management provided

by the software company from Walldorf, and an overview of all its partners.

TANNER reconfirmed as Special Expertise Partner for SAP NetWeaver MDM Special Expertise Partner

SAP NetWeaver MDM

TANNER