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Subject:Re: Quality Control manual question From:Al Geist <al -dot- geist -at- geistassociates -dot- com> To:techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com Date:Mon, 06 Nov 2006 07:10:58 -0500
Lorraine Kiewiet wrote:
Hi Whirler's,
... most recently, I find myself on a hardware-related contract. Procedures are
procedures, after all. And good writing and editing and graphics and templates
are needed in any documentation task.
So, one of the fella's approached me this afternoon. He has a friend who is sta
rting a little manufacturing business. This friend now wants to get on vendors
approved lists, and to do so, he must produce a Quality Control Manual for his
process.
BUT, I have no such template in my bag of tricks. Any pointers would be appreci
ated. Also, my friend wanted me to estimate what it would cost. Hard to estima
te without knowing tasks, but impossible without template. But as a
new business, it can't be terribly complicated.
Good writing, editing, graphics and templates are only of value if you
understand what you are documenting. I began my writing career developing
maintenance procedures after 10 years working as a technician/engineer. Any
technician/engineer worth a grain of salt can tell if a hardware manual was
written by someone who understands the technology or by someone who just
plugged information into a template. You can get a lot of useful information
from SMEs, but you need to understand the hardware to understand what they
are telling you.
You need to get an idea of what you are going to document before you can
give a good estimate of costs. ....AND, I've found new business often to be
a lot more complicated than old business because you have to dig out
everything and everything is always in a constant state of flux.
My two-cents.
Al
--
Al Geist
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Winning Videos, Professional Photography
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