Position Paper on Value of Technical Publications in the Indian Aerospace and Defence Industry

1. Position Paper on
Value of Technical Publications in the
Indian Aerospace and Defence Industry

3. Introduction
This paper is aimed at addressing the value and
need for quality Technical Publications in the Indian Defense Offset Facilitation Agency
Aerospace and Defence Industry. (DOFA)
Technical publications include a wide variety of DOFA has been established under the Department of
materials such as user guides, online help, white Defence Production (DDP) as a single window
papers, classroom training materials, reference agency to facilitate implementation of the offset policy
guides, administration guides, standard operating of the Ministry of Defence.
procedures, installation manuals, Web-based
training materials, and product demos. DOFA will assist potential vendors in interfacing with
the Indian Defence Industry for identifying potential
The processes and procedures involved in offset products/projects as well as provide requisite
transferring and implementing the technology, data and information for this purpose.
operation, maintenance, overhauling, upgrading,
engineering, designing, testing, and quality The agency will function under the supervision of a
assurance services of the manufactured defence designated Joint Secretary of the Dept of Defence
equipments and related software needs to be Production, and have representatives from the
documented. Service HQrs, HQ IDS, DRDO, DPSUs and OFB as
well as from CII, FICCI and ASSOCHAM and other
With the ever increasing defence imports, the agencies as deemed necessary.
Indian Defence Industry is inviting and encouraging
larger participation of private investors for For more information about DOFA visit
technology transfer, manufacturing ground handling http://mod.nic.in/DOFA.htm
equipments, and repair and maintenance of
aircrafts and other defence products.
The quality of Technical Publication in the Indian “Knowledge is people, money, learning, flexibility
Aerospace and Defence Industry needs to be in par and competitive advantage. Knowledge is more
with the standards such as European Association relevant to sustained business than capital or
of Aerospace Industries (AECMA), Simplified labor. And yet knowledge remains the most
English (PSC-85-16598), and ATA iSpec 2200 (Air neglected asset of a business. TWB helps you
Transportation America) and be comprehensible to unlock and share your technical knowledge with
the end users in the global markets. the world.”
In this paper we will also address and discuss
about the lack of vista in communication and
usability aspects, aimed at increasing the value of
technical publication in the Indian Aerospace and
Defence Industry.
“TWB believes that the technology cannot exist
without being communicated effectively.”
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4. Indian Defence Industry and
Offset Policy
Indian Aerospace and Defence Industry Defence Offset Obligations
The recent studies conclude that India is currently The policy to deregulate certain selected areas in
one of the top importers of military and aerospace the industry is aimed at import substitution through
equipments in the world. higher domestic production for meeting the
expected domestic defense requirements.
The projections made in a report on ‘Avenues for
Private Sector Participation in Defence' by the DOFA has stated in the Defence Offset Obligations
industry chamber Associated Chambers of of Offset Procedure that:
Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM)
points out that: “Direct purchase of, or executing export orders
for, defence products and components
“Over the past few years, India has spent as manufactured by, or services provided by,
much as $10.5 billion on military imports, making Indian defence industries, i.e., Defence Public
it amongst the largest arms importers in the Sector Undertakings, the Ordnance Factory
developing world” Board, and any private defence industry
manufacturing these products or components
under an industrial license granted for such
With the armed forces procuring multi-role fighter jets, manufacture. For the purpose of defence offset,
helicopters, and long range maritime reconnaissance “services” will mean maintenance, overhaul,
aircrafts, it is estimated that India's defence imports upgradation, life extension, engineering,
will reach USD30 billion by 2012. design, testing, and defence related software or
quality assurance services.”
This makes India one of the most attractive defence
markets in the world, in terms of business potential
and growth opportunities for private sectors.
The current defence market for private sector in India,
which includes outsourcing from Defence Public
Sector Units and Ordnance Factories is estimated to
be USD700 million.
This spending will further increase as the Indian
Defence Industry is determined to increase the
participation of private investors.
Presently more than 5,000 Indian companies are
supplying around 25% of components and
subassemblies to state-owned companies.
The government has set a 70% target for procuring
its defence requirements from indigenous sources by “The global war against terrorism and security
2010. For achieving this target the government is
considerations will continue to drive increases
mainly relying on private players.
in military expenditure” Aerospace Report CII
2009.
Some of the key civil industry players supplying
Defence equipment and services include Tata Group,
Mahindra & Mahindra, Kirloskar Bros., Larsen &
Toubro, Ashok Leyland, Jindal, Max Aerospace &
Aviation and Ramoss India.
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5. Growth Opportunities
Growth Opportunities in the Indian Significance of Aerospace
Defense Industry Manufacturing and MRO
The key areas of growth identified within the According to the PricewaterhouseCoopers
industry are expected to arise from the up research in the Aerospace Report CII 2009, most of
gradation of the production capacity, technology the leading companies are involved in the
transfer, and modernization of defense manufacture of commercial and defence aircraft.
infrastructure.
In the aerospace manufacturing segments, the
aerospace value chain is characterized by long
“The Indian Armed Forces' ongoing project cycles involving R&D, engineering design,
modernization program is set to make India manufacturing, assembly, and spare parts and
the Asia Pacific region's second highest services.
defence spender over the next five years and
the seventh largest globally by 2016, based The MRO sector is divided into four major
on a market study by Frost & Sullivan. segments, airframe and modification, engine
maintenance, line maintenance and component
The total opportunities for procurement are maintenance.
forecast to exceed US$100 billion by 2022,
including the maintenance, repair and Maintenance is a major cost component and
overhaul (MRO) market, while the offset significantly affects the overall life cycle cost.
potential during the forecast period is
expected to reach US$10 billion by 2013.” -
$100 billion investment opportunities in The manufacturing and maintenance processes
Indian defence industries: Frost & Sullivan and procedures should be published and
study, 30 May 2008. maintained for easier transitions and future
developments.
The most attractive drivers in the growth of private
investors are ground handling equipment,
proprietary technology, manufacturing techniques, Enhancing Processes with Clear and
and Maintenance, repair and operations/overhaul
(MRO).
Concise Publications
The rising need for the public-private-collaboration
These drivers need to be accompanied with the
provisioning of publication solutions for operations, and participation of private investors in the defence
repair and maintenance of the offset production. industry, the manufacturing and MRO units will be
wide spread across different companies in various
geographic locations.
“AgustaWestland, TATA to Jointly Produce
AW119 Helicopters in India”
The growing companies require a team of highly
committed technical authors with highly competent
skills to enable them communicate the complicated
technologies and processes with simple, clear and
concise publications.
The key responsibility areas of the technical
documentation companies include offering a wider
range of services for:
 Creating, editing, reviewing, and maintaining
content
 Preparing training material, online Help,
graphics and illustrations
 Managing knowledge management and content
management solutions, single sourcing, and
As stated in the Aerospace Report CII 2009 data migration
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6. Value of Technical Publications
Technical Communication for Communication for Different Levels of
Transferring Product Knowledge Technical and Product Knowledge
The purpose of technical communication is to transfer In technical publications, audience is the focal
product knowledge to end users in a comprehensible point. Hence, the style, language, and content must
manner. The strategies of communication and levels vary depending on the type of audience being
of information vary depending on the type of product addressed. It is because every user has a specific
and audience. role in the implementation and usage of the
technology. Therefore, it is important that
documents be created keeping in mind the role of
Providing end users with information about a
the person who will use the document.
product’s operation and maintenance is critical to the
market performance of the product. Hence, the need
for quality documentation is imperative. For example, when you document a software
application designed for highly technical users, it is
sufficient to provide the users with quick reference
In today’s business scenario, technical publications
information to use the application.
are often developed as an afterthought. This usually
results in inaccurate and incomprehensible
documentation, which, in turn, renders the users For users who start without technical or product
incapable of using the products. knowledge, it is important to provide detailed
product information along with instructions on how
to use the product.
Accurate, readily understandable, and quality
documents determine how a product sells in the
market and result in increased customer satisfaction. Attractive Publications as Useful
Marketing Tools
Faulty Assumptions that Result in
Problems in Documentation Besides transferring knowledge, technical
publications are also used for marketing a product.
Before a product is released in the market,
The faulty assumptions listed below result in information about the product needs to be
incomprehensible documents: effectively communicated to the customers.
 Developers know their products better than Well-designed, accurately presented, and attractive
anyone else – due to time constraints and limited marketing collaterals increase the market prospects
resources, many companies assign their of a product and reduce support costs.
documentation tasks to the programmers. This
more often results in the creation of technology-
centered information, while end users require
task-oriented information.
 Documentation of complex applications requires a
longer learning curve for the writer - learning the
product will not be a major obstacle for writers
with the right technical background.
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7. TWB Offers Publication Solutions with
Various Technical Publications
About TWB Types of Technical Publications
TWB is in the forefront of delivering publication Technical Publications include a wide variety of
solutions to customers, with a deep understanding of material that defer in various segments such as
domains and technologies. aerospace, ground handling equipment, proprietary
technology and manufacturing techniques, and
TWB provides pioneering documentation across Maintenance, repair and operations/overhaul
industries that include IT, ITES and Outsourcing, (MRO).
Navy, Aerospace, Defense, Ship Building, and
Manufacturing Industries. We help enterprises Technical Publications include:
communicate the technical knowledge they posses
with their ecosystems.  Engine Manual (EM)
 Standard Practices Manual
We understand the aerospace industry and the
adherence of aerospace to rigid standards and  Flight Manuals
specifications. Our expertise in Technical  Setup Manual
Documentation and experience with high-profile  Installation Manual and Instructions
clients enable us to meet the necessary high
standards, effectively and quickly.  Operator Manuals and Procedures
 Structural Repair Manual (SRM)
 Cleaning, Inspection and Repair (CIR) Manual
Publication Solutions  Parts & Provisioning Documentation
 Service Manual
A wide range of publication solutions/services offered  Component Maintenance Manual (CMM)
by TWB include:
 Illustrated Parts Catalogue (IPC, IPL)
 IETM/IETP Development  Overhaul and Repair Instructions
 S1000 Conversion and Integration  Training Manuals
 XML/SGML Every publication requires different levels of
expertise and domain knowledge for different
 Technical Writing Authoring
segments.
 Document and Design Enhancements
 Editing and Drafting
 Information Architecture Documentation Standards
 Structured and Unstructured Documentation
 Parts Catalogs/Provisioning The documents should comply with the standards
like:
 Data Provisioning
 Graphics, Technical Illustration  European Association of Aerospace Industries
 Training Programs (AECMA S1000D)
The solutions provided are customized to suit the  Simplified English (PSC-85-16598)
business needs.  Air Transportation America (ATA iSpec 2200)
 ATA100
For more information about the services provide visit
www.twb.in and www.twb-mac.com.
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8. Conclusion
 Rising Defense Expenditure in India: the Government of India has been investing heavily in its defence
industry to increase the imports and in-house production of defence products.
 India’s Offset Policy to Encourage Domestic Production: the Indian Defence Industry is encouraging
private companies to invest and increase domestic production of defence products through DOFA and Offset
Policy. The establishment of agencies and policies to encourage domestic production of defence products is
Increasing Public-Private collaborations.
 Rising Private Investments in the Indian Defense Industry: some of the key private investors including
Tata Group, Mahindra & Mahindra, Larsen & Toubro, and Ramoss India are supplying defence equipments
and services in the ground handling equipment, missile launching vehicles, and maintenance, repair and
overhauling segments.
This is increasing the competition between the companies of various sizes and capabilities in the private
sectors. Thus the less branded companies need to be more competent than the other highly branded
companies, and this can be achieved by providing attractive publications as useful marketing tools.
 Value of Technical Publications: Technical Publications are very essential for transferring product
knowledge to the end users. Provisioning of proper material to use the technology and products enables the
user to accept and efficiently use the product. Faulty assumptions about documentation lead to inaccurate
and hard-to-understand material. This also decreases the changes of marketing the products in the global
markets.
Developing Technical Publications is all about writing for the audience, i.e., developing Technical
Publications for users with different domain and product knowledge. Writing objectively is more
important that writing subjectively. This also involves getting the right people for creating the publications
with the correct structure, diagrammatic presentations, color schemes and coding, consistent templates
and content, and for editing and reviewing the documents.
There is a greater need to increase the value of Technical Publications in the Indian Aerospace and
Defence Industry, for the products and publications to be in par with the international standards and be
able to sell the products in the global markets in the future.
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9. TWB Services
TWB is India’s leader in technical communication outsourcing and education. TWB offers a complete suite of services that
allows our customers to effectively publish their technical knowledge with their people and processes. TWB’s customers range
from Global 500 – including Cisco, Accenture, McAfee, LG, Samsung, Citrix, SAP, Siemens, AOL, Intel; Indian technology
majors – including Infosys, Wipro; Global defense majors - Pratt & Whitney, Honeywell, DRDO, HAL; and exciting technology
startups. TWB's expertise in technical communication ranges from IT Products and Outsourcing, ITES, Banking, Financial,
Aerospace, Defense, Ship Building to Hi-tech Manufacturing, and Discrete and Process Manufacturing.
TWB’s services include:
Technical Marketing Technical Product Documentation Quality
Solutions Documentation Management
 Datasheets
 Administrator’s Guide
 Datasheets  Copy Editing and Proof Reading
 API Document
 Cheat sheets  Managing Writing
 Configuration Guide
 Solution Briefs/Solution Brochures  Editing Services
 Functional Specifications Document
 Presentations –  Layout and Design
Products/Corporate Profile  Installation Manual
 Creating SLAs
 Brochures and marketing collateral  Interface Document
 Web content  Interactive Electronic Technical Business Documentation
Manual (IETM)
 Audio and video scripts
 Maintenance Manual  Business Proposals
 Press releases
 Online Help  Legal Disclaimers
 Direct mail
 Operation Manual  Policy Manuals
 Newsletter design copy
 Product Demo  Style Guide Design
 Sales catalogues
 Product Specifications Document  Template Design
 Sales sheets
 Product Overview Document
 Quick Reference Guide
Business Communication Content Management
 Release Notes
 Short Reports  Requirement Analysis Document
 Single Sourcing
 Proposals  SDK Document
 File Version Control
 Case Studies  Troubleshooting Manual
 Document Naming Conventions
 Lab Reports  User Manual
 Consistent Document Formatting
 Memos  Open Source Documentation
 Data Transformation
 Progress/Interim Reports  Programmers Guides
 Writing for Electronic Media  Functional Specifications Document
 Use Cases Web site Development
Illustrations  Online Help /Context Sensitive Help
 Web 2.0 development
 Troubleshooting Guides
 Graphic Designing  Web content

 Info graphics  Web applications
Qualitative Analytics for
 2D & 3D animation
Decision Support Translation and Localization
 Line drawings and illustrations
Services
 Economic Business Research
Process Documentation
 Industry Analysis  Software Translation Services
 Workflows  Market Opportunity Analysis  Document Translation Services
 Standard Operating Procedures  Competitive Business Analysis  Localization (L10N) Testing
 ISO Documentation  Company & Prospect Profiling  Internationalization (I18N) Testing
 CMM Documentation  Reporting Solutions
 Assessment of Unmet Market Needs Records Management
Deployment and Support  Status and Potential of Technologies
 Document Management Solutions
 Benchmarking of Strategies Vs
 Record Management Storage and
 Installation and Configuration Competition
Retrieval
Guides  Forecasting
 Operations Manual  Sales Force Effectiveness
 Market Assessments
 Competitive Intelligence
 Opinion Leadership
 Emerging Markets - evaluation and
research
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10. TWB Software Tools Expertise
Our technical proficiency in software and authoring tools includes:
Unstructured Content XML Structured Editors Multimedia/Authoring
Development
 Epic  Adobe Flash®
 Microsoft Word®  FrameMaker+SGML  Adobe Dreamweaver®
 Adobe FrameMaker®  X-Metal®  Microsoft FrontPage®
 Adobe InDesign®  Adobe Captivate®
 QuarkXPress® Macromedia Captivate
 Adobe PageMaker® Graphics/Animations
 Multimedia/Authoring/
Illustrations  Adobe Flash® Supporting tools
 Adobe Photoshop®
 Adobe Flash CS4 Professional  Adobe Fireworks®  Adobe Flash®
 Adobe Illustrator CS3  Adobe Flex®
 CorelDRAW Online Help  Adobe AIR®
 Microsoft-Expression Graphic  Adobe Dreamweaver®
Designer  Adobe Acrobat®
 Xara Xtreme (Windows & Linux)  JavaHelp
 Microsoft Silverlight®
 CuteDraw  Adobe RoboHelp 7.0
 Adobe Authorware®
 Publisher3D(for animation)  HelpScribble
 Adobe Director®
 Sketsa SVG Editor (for vector  WebWorks Publisher
 Adobe Captivate®
graphics)  PowerCHM
 Trivantis Lectora®
 Techsmith Camtasia  Doc-To-Help
 ASP.NET
 Arbortext IsoDraw (technical  WinCHM
 JSP
illustrations for 2D and 3D)  HelpSmith 2.1.1(Windows)
 JAVA
 Fast-Help
 MadCap Flare Standards
Graphics/Animation  Help-Server
 NVU Help
 SCORM 1.2 / 2004
 Adobe Flash®  AICC
XML
 Adobe Photoshop®  W3C
 Adobe Illustrator®  Section 508
 Adobe Fireworks®  XMetal®  QTI XML
 Microsoft Silverlight®  Microsoft Word 2003®,
 Microsoft Word 2007®
Databases Development and Publishing
tools
CMS/ LMS
 Microsoft Access  XSLT/XSL
 Microsoft SQL Server  EDD
 Sharepoint®
 Moodle
Flowcharting  Joomla,
 WordPress
 Microsoft Visio  Media Wiki
 iGrafx  CMS Builder
 EDraw  Author-it (formerly AuthorIT)
 RFFlow  Alfresco
 Flowbreeze
 Smart Draw
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11. Industries Served
TWB services a wide range of technology and knowledge-driven industries, helping them meet their markets better. These
include:
 Banking, Insurance and Financial Services  ITES/ KPO/ BPO
 Consulting and Business Services  Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology
 Defense, Aerospace and Hi-Tech Manufacturing  Process Manufacturing and Allied Industries
 Education and Learning  Steel, Ship Building, Construction and Aviation
 IT, ITES  Telecom and Digital Communications
TWB has been the preferred technical documentation outsourcing company for:
The TWB Building US Office:
No: 4062, 19th Main Road, TWB
HAL 2nd Stage, 11701 Norwegian Wood Drive
Bangalore – 560008 Austin, TX 78758
India.
Landmark: Behind Carlton Towers
Telephone: Telephone:
+91.80.40741400 / +1.512.586.8357
+91.80.41256367
Corporate Enquiries:
corp@twb.in
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