Content management systems – cross-system data management saves time and costs

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

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
• PDF
• IDML
• HTML
• DOC
• FM
• AI
• and much more

Printed & digital publications

Output formats

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

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