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Subject:RE: Help for a new tech writer From:"McLauchlan, Kevin" <Kevin -dot- McLauchlan -at- safenet-inc -dot- com> To:"Jim Mezzanotte" <jmezzanotte -at- wi -dot- rr -dot- com>, <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com> Date:Tue, 4 Mar 2008 14:46:57 -0500
Perhaps unwisely, Jim Mezzanotte said:
> File this under "careful what you wish for." I've been trying to break
> into
> technical writing, and now I've plunged right into the deep end. I'm
> working
> for someone who is gearing up a manufacturing plant from scratch, and
he
> needs complete documentation for every operation that will take place
> there.
> Seventy people will be operating the plant when it is up and running.
My
> background is in print publishing--minimal proficiency in Quark, and
> that's
> it. He's leaving the software choice--and everything else--up to me.
>
> Am I nuts to take this on? I will be starting slowly, a few days a
week,
> with research at the plant. All the info I will need is essentially in
the
> owner's head, so I will be doing extensive interviews with him. But I
need
> to get the right software and a template to work with so I can at
least
> start plugging things in to some kind of structure. I'm wondering
about
> Framemaker or Indesign.
Wow. Except for the part where all 70 of the documents, plus a few
extras that you'll find out about, will come due at the same time, that
sounds like a lot of fun.
Start categorizing and prioritizing. Obviously, you can't have
everything ready on the first day, unless that first day gets delayed a
long time (which it won't, because he's losing money every day that his
plant is doing anything but producing sellable widgets).
There'll be at least two categories of docs - ordinary operational, and
maintenance/repair. If every piece of equipment is going to be
maintained and serviced by techs from the vendors, then you can leave
out those docs and just write the procedures or work-instructions for
each operator.
Is the shop unionized? The union probably has requirements for what the
documentation for each worker's job must look like. They probably have
examples or templates.
What about the equipment? Whether it's off-the-shelf items from volume
suppliers or bespoke gear created for your employer, there will be
documentation from the manufacturer. Their user docs are a good place to
start - either paraphrase or steal-with-permission, to get a jump-start
on your documents for your workers.
What is the status of the "gearing up" at this time?
Are there some permanent employees in place, trying out the equipment
and the processes before the plant goes "live"? Some of them might have
helpful input about what they expect/need.
A lot of line workers are quite intelligent people who don't really need
a step-by-tiny-step document in order to figure out what they have to
do, but they - and the employer - still need it as a reference point in
case there are disagreements or departures.
My first (and last) job at a production facility was as a technician
diagnosing and repairing system, board and component-level problems. If
you are going to document for people like that, you'll want to start
with designers of the product that the plant will make. They will have
information about failure modes, troubleshooting techniques, etc.
If the product is just inert mechanical widgets, then that whole
category does not apply, but it leads to the next category...
QC and QA. The "template" for people who test/enforce the quality of
incoming and outgoing materials is probably different from the template
for work-instructions on how to feed a stamping machine or an
injection-molder or a screen-printer or circuit-board populating and
soldering robot. Talk to them, or find their association (for that
industry) if no QC/QA people have been hired yet.
Will you also be writing procedures for the people who run shipping,
receiving and warehousing? Are there security/handling and tracking
procedures for expensive components, secret components, just-in-time
delivered components? Is there a lockup cage? Body-cavity search at end
of shift? All must be documented.
Are all of your audience members literate? Maybe some (all) of your
work instructions need to be pictorial. Maybe you need to physically
label work stations and hazards on the plant floor with signs and
symbols that you duplicate in the docs?
There are worldwide standards for signage and symbols, and there are
also individual country-specific versions that might prevail. Find out
which for your industry. Each industry has its own specific terminology
and symbols. Find out if yours does. Don't re-invent that wheel. It'll
be additional work AND it'll p**s-off the union or any experienced
workers who expect different language and markings.
Maybe I'll stop now. I had to abandon this missive for most of the day
and others have probably covered everything I've been saying in the
interim... but I'll post anyway cuz I'm just that obnoxious. :-)
Is it intended that you should still have an ongoing job after
everybody's job is documented first-pass?
Kevin
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