Content management systems – cross-system data management saves time and costs
Cost efficiency and flexibility play an especially important role in technical documentation. We want to help you choose the right content management system for you! We will take your specific requirements for data preparation, data management, modularisation, cross-channel publication aims and many more factors into account and will recommend and implement a suitable content management system on the basis of your requirements after a comprehensive analysis.
We are offering our customers all-encompassing service:
- Workshops for choosing a content management system
- Training of your employees for the individual systems
- Introduction of a content management system
- Document checks
- Creation of editing guidelines
- Creation of module masters
- Interface programming
Time and costs can be saved using the right content management system – however, choosing the right one for you depends on many factors.
- Product longevity and the product cycle
- The need to perform updates
- Languages and publication media
Aside from time and cost savings, content management systems bring a wealth of advantages:
- Linking of user manuals and spare parts catalogue
- Integration of supplier documentation
- User and rights management
- Modularisation
- and much more
Take advantage of these benefits with us and save time and costs when creating and updating your technical documentation.
Full service through outsourcing
KERN Global Language Services handles the complete creation - from the project steering process all the way to the delivery of the final document. Specifically, this means the following for you: Software maintenance, database management, the budget and schedule are coordinated and monitored by us. For this, we will provide experienced employees as coordinators on-site at your company. And this not only true for the source language: We will also organise the entire translation process.
Services in the area of outsourcing:
- Traditional creation of operating instructions
- Provision of technical editing
- Translation management
- Project management
- and much more
Content management systems of KERN Global Language Services
Benefits and characteristics of content management systems:
- Linking of user manuals and spare parts catalogue
- Integration of supplier documentation
- Reuse of recurring content in a documentation
- Modularisation
- User and rights management
- Support for authors and terminology management
- Integrated translation management
- Automation of documentation processes
- Media asset management
- Omission of separate DTP costs
- Simplified approval process
- A range of options for publication
Potential for savings:
Reduction of separate process controlling, of project management and documentation and translation efforts after migration.
The content management systems listed below are being used daily for customer projects:
- SCHEMA ST4
- SMC Smart Media Creator
- Fischer TIM RS
- Docufy Cosima GO!
- MadCap Flare
- PGX bloXedia
- layout-based systems such as Adobe InDesign, Framemaker & Microsoft Word
For the daily data exchange, we use automated interfaces and our portals. In this process, the following formats are handled for module creation or translation:
- XML
- IDML
- HTML
- DOC
- FM
- AI
- and much more
Printed & digital publications
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Output formats
Screen output | Print output | Media output |
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Editing guidelines: Purpose and aims
The editing guidelines are the basis for a uniform documentation. They contain work instructions for the creation of information products for devices and accessories, information on the document layout, the organisation of data, storage and archiving as well as information on linguistic rules to be observed.
The most important aims of the editing guidelines are:
- Definition and standardisation of process workflows
- Simplification of specialist work and efficient handling of technical editing
- Avoidance of time-consuming post-editing and parallel development
Selection process / preparation of the workshops
The basic procedure for selecting a content management system looks like this:
Preparation workshops
Workshops for initiating the existing workflows and customer requirements (workflows in technical documentation and translation)
- Editing processes
- Analysis of the current situation and development of current workflows
- Analysis of existing documentation and competent contact persons in editing
- Regulations from CE conformity procedures, norms and directives, risks assessments, safety-related requirements
- Requirements relating to development/construction - editing
- Requirements relating to input and output formats of individual systems (software communication)
- CI-related requirements
- Current and future publication formats, layout / design
- Specialist workshops
- Product trainings
- CE process
- Introduction to system landscape (by customer) if required
- Design/implementation of the CI in the documentation
- Translation
- Translation process
- Maintenance and updating of terminology
- In-country review
- Collection and thorough review of reference material
- Decision-making
- Number of productive users
- Systems to be integrated (additional workshops if necessary)
- Implementation
- Determination of the revised editing and translation workflow,
based on the department or group - Definition of contact persons and their rights/roles
- Inclusion of the user and rights structure
- Adjustment of the editing and translation system
- Interface configuration
- Test run, additional adjustments if necessary
- Trainings/webinars: Providing information on defined workflows, review in new environments
- Definition of additional functionalities
You want to find out more about content management systems? Please get in touch!