Automating Product Documentation Assembly: When Product Information Management Meets Component Content Management. Product information and product documentation often work as disconnected silos. Product information, which is usually well-structured, includes product components definition data, regulatory compliance information, data about custom product configurations that different resellers receive, etc. It’s created by engineers, legal department, IT teams, and so on. Product documentation includes technical documentation, marketing collateral, and sales documents, and is created by technical and marketing writers. Product information can become a source for automated creation and generation of product documentation.

1. @Ditatoo1 #LavaCon
Automating Product
Documentation Assembly
Presenter: Alex Masycheff, CEO, Intuillion

2. @Ditatoo1 #LavaCon
Product Information
Technical
Documentation
BOMs
Compliance
Documentation
Marketing
Collateral
Technical
Specifications

3. @Ditatoo1 #LavaCon
Connecting Silos
• Why connect silos
• What it takes
• What role structured content plays
• Why it’s beyond automated
documentation assembly

4. @Ditatoo1 #LavaCon
SuperWind, Inc.
Turbine Types
Models

5. @Ditatoo1 #LavaCon
Wind Turbine Parts
Blades
Part.No: R-1A98B
Assembly: 5-44
Gearbox
Part No.:G-7N98K
Assembly: 5-16
Controller
Part No.: C-2J33G
Assembly: 4-12
...
Blades
Part.No: R-1A98B
Assembly: 4-12
Gearbox
Part No.:G-8R12J
Assembly: 6-10
Controller
Part No.: C-2J33G
Assembly: 4-12
...

6. @Ditatoo1 #LavaCon
Bill of Materials (BOM)
• Parts to be included into a
specific turbine
• Well-structured
• Stored in a PLM or Excel

7. @Ditatoo1 #LavaCon
150% BOM
Includes all possible parts
and flavors
Blades
Part.No: R-1A98B
Assembly: 5-44
Part.No: R-1A98B
Assembly: 4-12
Part.No: R-2B12J
Assembly: 6-10
Gearbox
Part.No: G-7N98K
Assembly: 5-16
Part.No: G-8T11C
Assembly: 6-15
Controller
Part.No: C-2J33G
Assembly: 4-12
Part.No: C-3K14M
Assembly: 7-10
Part.No: C-5K14Z
Assembly: 7-11

8. @Ditatoo1 #LavaCon
100% BOM
Includes only parts
for a specific turbine
Blades
Part.No: R-1A98B
Assembly: 5-44
Part.No: R-1A98B
Assembly: 4-12
Part.No: R-2B12J
Assembly: 6-10
Gearbox
Part.No: G-7N98K
Assembly: 5-16
Part.No: G-8T11C
Assembly: 6-15
Controller
Part.No: C-2J33G
Assembly: 4-12
Part.No: C-3K14M
Assembly: 7-10
Part.No: C-5K14Z
Assembly: 7-11
Blades
Part.No: R-1A98B
Assembly: 5-44
Gearbox
Part.No: G-7N98K
Assembly: 5-16
Controller
Part.No: C-2J33G
Assembly: 4-12
Includes all possible parts
and flavors

9. @Ditatoo1 #LavaCon
BOM to Excel
Blades
Part.No: R-1A98B
Assembly: 5-44
Part.No: R-1A98B
Assembly: 4-12
Part.No: R-2B12J
Assembly: 6-10
Gearbox
Part.No: G-7N98K
Assembly: 5-16
Part.No: G-8T11C
Assembly: 6-15
Controller
Part.No: C-2J33G
Assembly: 4-12
Part.No: C-3K14M
Assembly: 7-10
Part.No: C-5K14Z
Assembly: 7-11
Blades
Part.No: R-1A98B
Assembly: 5-44
Gearbox
Part.No: G-7N98K
Assembly: 5-16
Controller
Part.No: C-2J33G
Assembly: 4-12
BOM
BOM to Content
Mapping
Includes only parts
for a specific turbine
Includes all possible parts
and flavors

10. @Ditatoo1 #LavaCon
Excel to Technical Documentation
Blades
Part.No: R-1A98B
Assembly: 5-44
Part.No: R-1A98B
Assembly: 4-12
Part.No: R-2B12J
Assembly: 6-10
Gearbox
Part.No: G-7N98K
Assembly: 5-16
Part.No: G-8T11C
Assembly: 6-15
Controller
Part.No: C-2J33G
Assembly: 4-12
Part.No: C-3K14M
Assembly: 7-10
Part.No: C-5K14Z
Assembly: 7-11
Blades
Part.No: R-1A98B
Assembly: 5-44
Gearbox
Part.No: G-7N98K
Assembly: 5-16
Controller
Part.No: C-2J33G
Assembly: 4-12
Technical
Documentation
BOM
BOM to Content
Mapping
Includes all possible parts
and flavors
Includes only parts
for a specific turbine

11. @Ditatoo1 #LavaCon
Silos
Blades
Part.No: R-1A98B
Assembly: 5-44
Part.No: R-1A98B
Assembly: 4-12
Part.No: R-2B12J
Assembly: 6-10
Gearbox
Part.No: G-7N98K
Assembly: 5-16
Part.No: G-8T11C
Assembly: 6-15
Controller
Part.No: C-2J33G
Assembly: 4-12
Part.No: C-3K14M
Assembly: 7-10
Part.No: C-5K14Z
Assembly: 7-11
Blades
Part.No: R-1A98B
Assembly: 5-44
Gearbox
Part.No: G-7N98K
Assembly: 5-16
Controller
Part.No: C-2J33G
Assembly: 4-12
Engineers Technical Writers

12. @Ditatoo1 #LavaCon
Statements of Compliance
• Per part
• For the entire wind turbine
• Includes technical specs

13. @Ditatoo1 #LavaCon
General Flow
Operation Manual
Service Manual
Troubleshooting Manual
Compliance Statements
Parse BOM Pick Up Content Assemble Content

14. @Ditatoo1 #LavaCon
Inside BOM
• Filter criteria
• Well-defined structure
• Granular structure
• Contents vary

15. @Ditatoo1 #LavaCon
What Defines Contents of BOM
• Customer’s requirements
• Environmental conditions
• Geographical location
• Government regulations
• Etc.

16. @Ditatoo1 #LavaCon
Context Is Granular
In The Netherlands
Onshore Avg.wind speed 20 m/s
In Germany
Offshore
Avg.wind speed 15 m/s
Farm
Stand-alone
Set up a wind turbine...
In Belgium Near residential area
In a desert
Seismic area
In California

17. @Ditatoo1 #LavaCon
Context Mapped to Product Configuration
Customer’s
Requirements
R-1A98B R-5B54A
Environmental
Conditions
Government
Regulations
G-7N98K
Blades
Gearbox
G-9U10G
GN-1M30K
Generator
GN-2K19A
C-2J33G
Controller
C-1A10H
Geographical
Location

18. @Ditatoo1 #LavaCon
Granular Content
Stand-alone, reusable, format independent pieces of content

19. @Ditatoo1 #LavaCon
Granular Content
Blades

20. @Ditatoo1 #LavaCon
Granular Content
Gearbox

21. @Ditatoo1 #LavaCon
Metadata
• Part: R-1A98B
• Assembly: 5-44

22. @Ditatoo1 #LavaCon
Granular Content Within Topics
Information to know before
performing the procedure
Procedure steps
Procedure result
1.
2.
3.

23. @Ditatoo1 #LavaCon
Matching Context and Content
Representation
Procedure
Textual
representation
Visual
representation
Aggregated
representation
1.
2.
a.
b.
3.
4.

24. @Ditatoo1 #LavaCon
Structural Templates
Operation Manual Service Manual Troubleshooting Manual

25. @Ditatoo1 #LavaCon
Solution
Operation Manual Service Manual
Troubleshooting Manual
Structured BOM Structured Content Structured Templates
Parse BOM Pick Up Content Assemble Content

26. @Ditatoo1 #LavaCon
Example: Metadata

27. @Ditatoo1 #LavaCon
Example: Structural Template
...

28. @Ditatoo1 #LavaCon
Using Input from Chatbots
• As much specific and relevant answer
as possible
• Asks questions
• Gathers information about user’s context
• Information represented in a structured
format (JSON)

29. @Ditatoo1 #LavaCon
Possible Conversation
Hi Jim! How can I help you today?
Do I need to lubricate ZX-135 before
mounting it to the rotor?
Is it a new ZX-135?
No, I’ve received it after repair
Yes, you need to lubricate ZX-135.
Should I display the entire
lubrication procedure for ZX-135
after repair?
Show me only those steps that are
different from the standard procedure
Here you go:
...

30. @Ditatoo1 #LavaCon
Structural Representation of User’s Context
{
“intent”: “lubricate”,
“component”: “ZX-135”
“type”: “maintenance”,
“action”: “mounting”
}

31. @Ditatoo1 #LavaCon
Solution
Operation Manual Service Manual
Troubleshooting Manual
Structured BOM Structured Content Structured Templates
Parse BOM Pick Up Content Assemble Content

32. @Ditatoo1 #LavaCon
Solution
Operation Manual Service Manual
Troubleshooting Manual
Structured User’s Context Structured Content Structured Templates
Parse JSON Pick Up Content Assemble Content
{
“intent”: “lubricate”,
“component”: “ZX-135”
“type”: “maintenance”,
“action”: “mounting”
}

33. @Ditatoo1 #LavaCon
Solution
Structured User’s Context Structured Content
Parse JSON Pick Up Content Deliver Content
Chatbots
{
“intent”: “lubricate”,
“component”: “ZX-135”
“type”: “maintenance”,
“action”: “mounting”
}

34. @Ditatoo1 #LavaCon
System Error
• Has a code
• May carry additional information
• Can be represented as structure

35. @Ditatoo1 #LavaCon
Structural Representation of Error
<error>
<code> 425</code>
<originator>gearbox<originator>
<affected> low-speed shaft</affected>
</error>

36. @Ditatoo1 #LavaCon
Solution
Structured Error Description Structured Content
Parse XML Pick Up Content Deliver Content
<error>
<code> 425</code>
<originator>gearbox<originator>
<affected> low-speed shaft</affected>
</error>
Troubleshooting

37. @Ditatoo1 #LavaCon
Solution
Operation Manual Service Manual
Troubleshooting Manual
Structured BOM Structured Content Structured Templates
Parse BOM Pick Up Content Assemble Content

38. @Ditatoo1 #LavaCon
Generalized Solution
Operation Manual Service Manual
Troubleshooting Manual
Filtering Criteria (Any) Structured Content Structured Templates
Parse Filter Pick Up Content Assemble Content
Customer’s
requirements
User’s
requests
System errors

39. @Ditatoo1 #LavaCon
Generalized Solution
Filtering Criteria (Any) Structured Content
Parse Filter Pick Up Content Deliver Content
Customer’s
requirements
User’s
requests
System errors
Chatbots
Customer portals
Printed output

40. @Ditatoo1 #LavaCon
Summary
• Need to deliver personalized experience
• Personalization achieved through delivering the relevant
and customized information
• Filtering criteria required
• Filtering criteria represent context and can be expressed in
many ways
• Context is granular
• Structured content required to match context to content

41. @Ditatoo1 #LavaCon
Website: http://www.intuillion.com
Email: alex@intuillion.com
Contact Me