×
INTELLIGENT WORK FORUMS
FOR ENGINEERING PROFESSIONALS

Log In

Come Join Us!

Are you an
Engineering professional?
Join Eng-Tips Forums!
  • Talk With Other Members
  • Be Notified Of Responses
    To Your Posts
  • Keyword Search
  • One-Click Access To Your
    Favorite Forums
  • Automated Signatures
    On Your Posts
  • Best Of All, It's Free!
  • Students Click Here

*Eng-Tips's functionality depends on members receiving e-mail. By joining you are opting in to receive e-mail.

Posting Guidelines

Promoting, selling, recruiting, coursework and thesis posting is forbidden.

Students Click Here

Jobs

Automated Work Instructions?

Automated Work Instructions?

Automated Work Instructions?

(OP)
Hi there. I am currently working on creating some "work instructions" for our assembly area at our factory. I was originally going to just type these out and maybe copy and paste some digital pictures next to the appropriate step. Then, one of my colleagues had mentioned the possibility of using a software package that creates work instructions in an "easy-to-read" format without much thought by the guy writing down the steps, me. I was unsure if any of you had used software for writing instructions like this or if you knew of any good packages yourself? I would really appreciate some feedback on what works/worked for you all. I have basically only heard of one brand, Talsico, but I am sure there are others...right? Thanks in advance.
Signed,
Zack

RE: Automated Work Instructions?

Boltonza,
I've written a lot of operating procedures, user manuals, and other boring technical documents.  I've never had much success getting them written by "Technical Writers", so I would be extrememly sceptical of letting a program have a go at it.

I've never used any of these programs, but it seems to me like you would spend more time describing the process to the robot than it would take to write the document yourself.

I've used the digital picture method for the last few years with good success.  One thing that really works well is to use PhotoShop or PictureIt! (or even PaintBrush) to annotate the pictures with words and arrows to make your points clearer.  I've gotten very good feedback on that technique.

David Simpson, PE
MuleShoe Engineering
www.muleshoe-eng.com
Please see FAQ731-376 for tips on how to make the best use of Eng-Tips Fora.

RE: Automated Work Instructions?

(OP)
Thanks for the swift reply, but I feel like I should clarify on what the software I had in mind will do. Not theat it will change your reply, but just in case someone else writes a reply as well. The software packages I looked at were more of just a template to use. You still type all the neccessary steps, but it just makes putting the pictures and tools req'd., etc. next to each step easier. But, yes, it does look like just typing them out and moving stuff around might be the best, but in Microsoft Word it's hard to get the pictures to line up beside the text it seems to just want to clear out a few lines or go below it. I thought having this template software may be more user-friendly...if anyone else has used anything like this please let me know. Thanks.
-Zack

RE: Automated Work Instructions?

One thing that I always do in Word is to paste pictures into a cell in a table.  Format the picture for text wrap around the picture.  This tends to make things behave a little better, since you're now using table formatting behaviors, rather than picture.

TTFN

RE: Automated Work Instructions?

Zack, I agree with David. Having a program do it seems to be quite a bad idea.

Who will proof-read it? How many pages (lines) does it take before the proof-reader gives up? This sounds pretty much like handing over technical translations to a translator that knows about languages, but very little about the technology. The result is almost always completely useless. And automated translators do not produce better results. Only more consistently bad.

There are some good texts (sorry, I only know Swedish texts) that introduce you to manual writing and instruction writing. There is usually a fair bit of report writing in there as well.

A problem I have with these jobs is to decide what I am writing. Is it an Operator Manual, a Repair Manual, a Sales Leaflet or a Systems Description? And also what level will my reader be at? Can he be expected to know the jargong of that technical field or do we have to use "normal words"? The latter alternative will make an experienced person think that the guy who wrote the text is a novice while the former will make the text incomprehensible - and thrown away.

My first step therefore is to interview the people that wants the text written. But before putting any questions, I make sure that he understands why I need the information. The answers otherwise tend to be guesses and excursions into irrelevant topics rather than the information needed.

The next step is to write up a couple of short examples. Like tis:

A) Connect ground lead to motor frame
B) Set 200 V/us
C) Touch shaft with probe
D) Read counter
E) If ctr < 1000 PPS the drive is OK. If > 1000 the drive needs to be examined more closely. Make note in test protocol.
G) Remove gnd lead and put Bearing Predictor back in box.

Or this:

"The Bearing Predictor is a device that detects and counts EDM (Electric Discharge Machining) in ball bearings and roller bearings. It does so by evaluating the voltage that exists between motor shaft and motor frame. The signal (voltage) is picked up from the shaft by the Probe and the reference voltage (ground) is taken from the motor frame. A level discriminator outputs a pulse whenever the set level (V per microsecond, V/us) is exceeded and the pulses are counted and displayed. The unit used is Pulses Per Second (PPS). As a rule-of-thumb, 200 V/us and 1000 PPS are critical values. If you measure more than 1000 PPS at 200 V/us, the motor and drive merits a closer examination. If below 1000 PPS at 200 V/us, you are on the safe side."

This doesn't take long. Ask the client which one he thinks is right. Make sure that he understands that there are intermediate levels.

Notice that the first example does not say anything about why this test is being done and it says nothing about the principles. But the guy who reads the instruction will probably be able to do the job. But he is likely to be lost if something unexpected turns up.

The other example does not tell anything about how the measurement shall be made. It does not even tell the guy to connect the probe to the shaft, but he will make the test and he is prepared to deal with unexpected deviations from the norm.

OK, this ran a bit too long. And probably off topic as well. I think that it is clear that I do not believe in automated instruction writing - or translation.

RE: Automated Work Instructions?

I add my US$0.02 here.

I have recently prepared WI for assembly of components on a prototype vehicle. The components were developed in Pro/ENGINEER. The WI were MS Word documents detailing the assembly instructions with color images captured from Pro/E. I manually labeled the part numbers in Word over the image. It would have been nice to capture some of the assembly steps in notes in Pro/E and/or produce animated assemblies that documented the process, but this would have been overkill.

The best part of the WI process was when I attached additional copies of the colored images with the part numbers to the frame with duct tape. That was the part the technicians appreciated the best!

My suggestion would be do try to develop text of the WI for each step concurrently with the design and codify the statements so the text and images can be assembled into perhaps an HTML format with some automation. A good PDM/PLM tool might be able to help here.

Good luck!

Best regards,

Matthew Ian Loew
"I don't grow up. In me is the small child of my early days" -- M.C. Escher

Please see FAQ731-376 for tips on how to make the best use of Eng-Tips Fora.

RE: Automated Work Instructions?

Forget about Wintel machines, and do it on a Mac.  My old Mac LC40 (68020 processor with 40MB hard disk) of 12 years ago was better at doing this kind of thing (using Clarisworks V1!) than any of Bill's Office suite products of today.

Bung
Life is non-linear...

RE: Automated Work Instructions?

I use MS word.
Use the "Right click, Format Pictures" to make the format of the pictures the way you want.
Float over text or wrap around.
Also, lock or unlock picture moving with text.

I like to do the Shop Travelers in a "Table".
The text blocks can be controlled easier that way, and alignment is guaranteed. If you need to add a digital photo or even do a stick drawing (I keep the "Draw" toolbar open), add a new row and make it as large as required. Format the picture to "float over text", but lock it to the text. Add text boxes and draw right on the photo, then group the items.

It really works well and doesn't require additional funding for special programs.

A template can be made easily, but don't forget to proof read!

MS Word is quite flexible.
Even on a MAC.

Rerig.

Red Flag This Post

Please let us know here why this post is inappropriate. Reasons such as off-topic, duplicates, flames, illegal, vulgar, or students posting their homework.

Red Flag Submitted

Thank you for helping keep Eng-Tips Forums free from inappropriate posts.
The Eng-Tips staff will check this out and take appropriate action.

Reply To This Thread

Posting in the Eng-Tips forums is a member-only feature.

Click Here to join Eng-Tips and talk with other members!


Resources