CIMdata PLM Industry Summary Online Archive

12 September 2007

Product News

PTC Delivers Industry's Only Complete Out-of-the-Box Solution for Service Manuals; Complete Solution for Creating and Delivering Audience-Specific Service Information with Interactive Graphics for Manufacturing Organizations

PTC announced the availability of the industry's first comprehensive out-of-the-box solution for creating, publishing and delivering technical service manuals. Built on Arbortext® dynamic publishing software, this solution enables customers to publish high-quality service manuals with embedded interactive illustrations quickly with minimal configuration. More accurate and relevant service information delivered in the format of choice can improve first-time fix rates, reduce asset downtime, and increase the profitability of the service engagement.

The PTC service manual application is an industry-first solution that has the power to transform the process of publishing service documentation to significantly improve the quality and efficiency of service organizations.

The success of any new solution hinges on an organization's capacity and commitment to using it. This is why PTC has designed implementation offerings that incorporate a pragmatic adoption approach to help overcome the typical challenges companies face when deploying new solutions. For companies managing service level agreements and looking to improve first-time fix rates or reduce asset downtime, these efficiency improvements can drive increased customer satisfaction and improved customer retention. For manufacturers servicing global customers, the PTC service manual application will reduce localization costs through the reuse of previously translated content and the elimination of unnecessary desktop publishing costs. Additionally, PTC's service manual application enforces content consistency to ensure a fully compliant process.

The service manual application includes capabilities to create text and interactive graphics, collaboration, content management and configuration, and dynamic publishing. It is enabled by the latest release of the following Arbortext dynamic publishing software:

Arbortext EditorT. Combines out-of-the-box service manual-specific configuration files and authoring templates with familiar word-processing capabilities that give the user the ability to create text in reusable components that are automatically configured and formatted. Arbortext Editor enables the user to insert 2D and 3D technical illustrations and animations created with Arbortext IsoDraw . The service manual application automatically generates common service manual components, such as tables of content, lists of figures, and indexes and creates master documents from which the publishing system can produce unlimited variations of a service manual that exactly matches a product's configuration.

Arbortext Publishing EngineT. Leverages the master service manual created with Arbortext Editor and applies the service manual stylesheets to apply styling for service information types, such as procedures, diagnostics, hazard statements, and fault isolation trees and automatically publish tailored, audience-specific service manuals in multiple languages and multiple types of media. Electronic service manuals can contain interactive graphics and animations to further simplify the reader's learning process.

Arbortext IsoDraw® Lets the user create technical illustrations from scratch or by reusing three-dimensional Pro/ENGINEER or other CAD design models. Arbortext IsoDraw 7.0 maintains the link to the original CAD file to ensure the illustration or animation is automatically updated if the design changes. Arbortext IsoDraw 7.0 now supports ProductViewT formats as a basis for illustration creation.

Arbortext IsoView® . Enables viewing of interactive 2D and 3D technical illustrations and animations. This optional software is delivered as an ActiveX plug-in to document viewers and provides viewing, interaction, and redlining capabilities to illustrations and animations created with Arbortext IsoDraw and all common vector and raster image formats.

Windchill®. This optional component offers advanced content management and configuration management capabilities required for full automation of the authoring and publishing process. These capabilities include support for compound documents, automatic 'bursting' of documents into reusable components (e.g. section, figure, warning), support for review/approval workflow, version control, access control, and change management.

Multipart is a UK-based supply chain management specialist that provides its customers with a safe, secure, and intuitive method of ordering parts. "We have used Arbortext IsoDraw for some considerable time to create the technical illustrations, and Arbortext IsoView was our first choice for a web-based application to view our interactive parts illustrations," said Steve Johnson, publications manager, Multipart. "We have received positive feedback from our client base for our EPC (Electronic Parts Catalog) and Arbortext IsoView has played a major part in its success because it enables us to create an intuitive environment through the use of intelligent graphics. We look forward to continuing our work with PTC and to utilizing more of its Arbortext dynamic publishing software."

"Our strategy is to continually develop industry-transforming solutions that leverage years of manufacturing and customer experience, providing greater value with lower implementation effort and overall cost of ownership," said James Heppelmann, executive vice president and chief product officer, PTC. "This release of the service manual application demonstrates PTC's commitment and delivers enormous value in an area where companies have struggled for many years. It enables organizations to publish and deliver industry-standard manuals that accurately describe the products under service at a fraction of the typical cost and effort."

Arbortext Service Manual Application Availability

Built on the Arbortext dynamic publishing software, this application is now available. For more information about Arbortext products and applications, please visit the Arbortext product pages on http://www.ptc.com/ .

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