RE: Cost per page metrics

["Broberg, Mats" <mabr -at- flir -dot- se>]

Hi Gene (and Robert),

While I agree that it is not a perfect parameter, "cost per page" seems
to be the parameter of choice when benchmarking technical documentation
costs within the industry. Not for companies who produce 2-3 manuals per
year ofcourse, but for larger corporations who output hundreds of
thousands of pages per year. 

"Cost per word" would be very misleading, since a 100 page manual with
technical illustrations then would "cost" almost nothing to produce for
a corporation. Which isn't true ofcource, hence the "cost per page"
parameter, which takes into account labour, salaries, IT solutions,
real-estate, etc.

There are several whitepapers and theses about this, e.g. in "Technical
Communication". I just couldn't find any direct figures to compare our
figures with.

Thanks anyway.

Best regards,
Mats Broberg
Technical Documentation Manager

http://www.flir.com/thg

Gene Kim-Eng

> I don't even want to think about it in those terms.  It's not 
> a good way to encourage people to write more succintly.
> 
> Gene Kim-Eng
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