Making IT work hard for Flow Control Engineers
Documentation
projects for
Spirax-Sarco Ltd
A project for
When Spirax-Sarco
Ltd built IT support packages for their sales and field engineers,
they asked Isabel Evans of IE Testing Consultancy Ltd to provide documentation
expertise.
Spirax-Sarco Ltd is a world leader in steam and process control technology,
with hundreds of sales and field engineers across the globe. Laptop-based
IT support packages were developed to help them conduct a wide range of
sales and engineering operations more effectively:
-
SIZE-IT for sizing and selecting flow control products
-
CASSIO LT for providing drawings of products and system layout diagrams for customers
-
STMS for steam trap site survey and tracking
The users for the IT systems are all engineers and expert in steam and process control systems, but did not necessarily have any IT experience. To accommodate the differences in skill level, a series of guides was devised for each system, ranging from a Beginner's Tutorial explaining the laptop PC and its keyboard, through Step by Step guides for each major system function, to reference material such as Advanced User Guides. All the documentation provided with each package had to be:
- Easy to use
- Brief
- Correct and complete
- Accurate and unambiguous
Isabel helped Spirax-Sarco Ltd design the documentation design and layout. She then wrote the text for the guides and designed process diagrams, system diagrams and documentation navigation aids. Each documentation set included explanation of IT terminology and the system, while examples and tutorials were firmly tied to the engineer's day to day work.
Mark Crompton, the Spirax-Sarco Ltd project manager
for the CASSIO LT and SIZE-IT projects says:
"Isabel proved a valuable member of the team, able to take early versions
of the software and produce user guides and tutorials with the minimum
of additional support. The finished manuals were always well constructed
and easy to follow. She fulfilled a vital role in the production of quality
software. I would recommend her skills without reservation to anyone needing
high quality literature suitable for use by customers or staff."
Isabel Evans of IE Testing Consultancy Ltd says:
"It is always a pleasure to work with the teams at Spirax-Sarco Ltd.
The projects were fun as well as interesting. I enjoyed finding out about
the engineering practice at Spirax-Sarco Ltd. This type of engineering
was new to me - it was great to find out about flow control, pumps and
valves by talking to these experts! "
To find out more about Spirax-Sarco Ltd and its products world wide visit their web sites:
Where to find us:
IE Testing Consultancy Ltd is now part of Testing Solutions Group Ltd.
Our offices are in London. We regularly provide our courses and services throughout the UK, Europe and the USA, and have links worldwide. For further information about any of our services or training courses, please contact:
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7623 2012
Fax: +44 (0) 20 7929 0883
Testing Solutions Group Ltd
Walbrook House
23-29 Walbrook
London EC4N 8BT
UK
