I began writing technical documentation in my professional life around the same time as writing fiction became a hobby in my personal life. Over the past 20 years, I’ve worked in a number of roles in engineering-intensive manufacturing and service environments—as an assembly technician, process engineer, quality manager, and quality management system (QMS) consultant. These experiences have shaped my technical writing skills and given me a broad, multi-faceted perspective of documentation system design and the need for instructions to be simple, accurate, and easy to maintain.

Unfortunately for many companies, the personnel who perform the manufacturing work (engineers, technicians, and operators) don’t necessarily posses the organization or written communication skills to properly explain the complexities of what they do. And those tasked with documenting the work (often QA personnel or outsourced writers) may not have sufficient hands-on experience to describe the work itself.

This is the problem I tackle in Writing Manufacturing Procedures. The goal with this book is to pass along my experience to you in order to make the design, creation, and maintenance of your manufacturing documents as easy as possible. Utilizing three basic document types—each with a specific function—I show you how to construct your own manufacturing documentation to be thorough yet efficient, with content that remains relevant as your business grows.

• If you’d like to read a sample of Writing Manufacturing Procedures or purchase a copy, visit the BOOK PREVIEW section below.
• If you need a head start in creating your documentation, check out the TEMPLATES section.
• If you need help designing your document system or writing the content, I offer these services on a contract basis; please contact me for rates and scheduling.