{"id":833,"date":"2018-11-06T11:17:31","date_gmt":"2018-11-06T19:17:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.plm.automation.siemens.com\/t5\/Teamcenter-Blog\/Tech-Pubs-in-the-Digital-Thread-Redefining-Reuse\/ba-p\/539519"},"modified":"2026-03-26T08:44:15","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T12:44:15","slug":"tech-pubs-in-the-digital-thread-redefining-reuse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/teamcenter\/tech-pubs-in-the-digital-thread-redefining-reuse\/","title":{"rendered":"Tech Pubs in the Digital Thread \u2013 Redefining Reuse"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><P>Stop researching product data for tech pubs. Use it as content, directly from the digital thread. This is a paradigm changer for technical authors, and is providing more accurate and effective product documentation, from parts catalogs to operations manuals.<\/P><\/p>\n<p><P>If you\u2019re not familiar with the <a href=\"https:\/\/sloanreview.mit.edu\/video\/following-the-digital-thread-the-path-toward-the-digital-enterprise\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">digital thread<\/A>, it\u2019s the connected data flow and integrated view of the product data throughout its lifecycle across traditionally siloed functional engineering disciplines. Originally an aerospace concept, it\u2019s now being implemented across industries, and is often talked about as part of design, manufacturing planning, production, and service execution. We\u2019re extending that to include tech pubs authors and illustrators.<\/P><br \/>\n<P>&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/P><br \/>\n<P>Check out this Society for Technical Communication webinar \u201c<STRONG>Moving beyond Content Management Reuse and Applicability\u201d<\/STRONG> for more info and a demonstration of how we\u2019re changing the way tech authors and illustrators create and update product documentation.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/P><br \/>\n<P>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div class=\"lia-vid-container video-embed-center\">\n<div id=\"lia-vid-90MDhsZzE6WSflyzdQCKcSeMIV195EINw596h336r114\" class=\"lia-video-ooyala-player-container\"><\/div>\n<p><script>LITHIUM.OoyalaPlayer.addVideo('https:\/\/player.ooyala.com\/static\/v4\/production\/', 'lia-vid-90MDhsZzE6WSflyzdQCKcSeMIV195EINw596h336r114', '90MDhsZzE6WSflyzdQCKcSeMIV195EIN', {\"pcode\":\"sxdjkxOluLl_gSQrV57FiGraFE2-\",\"playerBrandingId\":\"ODI0MmQ3NjNhYWVjODliZTgzY2ZkMDdi\",\"width\":\"596px\",\"height\":\"336px\"});<\/script><a class=\"video-embed-link\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.plm.automation.siemens.com\/t5\/video\/gallerypage\/video-id\/90MDhsZzE6WSflyzdQCKcSeMIV195EIN\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">(view in My Videos)<\/a><\/div>\n<p><\/P><br \/>\n<P>&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/P><br \/>\n<P>I\u2019m not just talking about giving authors and illustrators access to the data digitally. We know that access to engineering and product data can reduce research time exponentially (see my earlier&nbsp;blog on <a href=\"https:\/\/community.plm.automation.siemens.com\/t5\/Teamcenter-Blog\/Efficient-and-Effective-Technical-Publications\/ba-p\/338538\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\"><FONT color=\"#0066cc\">Efficient and Effective Technical Publications<\/FONT><\/A>). Technical writers in manufacturing \u2013 who document everything from toasters to airplanes \u2013 spend the bulk of their time researching product design, and rewriting to stay current with their product configurations. In many industries, those tasks account for 50% or more of a technical writer\u2019s time.<\/P><\/p>\n<p><P>I\u2019m talking about using engineering digital data directly in documentation \u2013 taking JT and CAD formats and the PIM data available in the thread and converting it on the fly to create content. And not just 2D and 3D illustrations, but also the text in part catalogs, procedural steps in operations manuals and service bulletins, and assembly and disassembly information in training exercises. And \u2013 more importantly \u2013 updating that content as product designs change or products are serviced to stay current with the product configuration.<\/P><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Stop researching product data for tech pubs. Use it as content, directly from the digital thread. This is a paradigm changer for technical authors, and is providing more accurate and effective produc&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":52465,"featured_media":834,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spanish_translation":"","french_translation":"","german_translation":"","italian_translation":"","polish_translation":"","japanese_translation":"","chinese_translation":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[11],"industry":[],"product":[],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-833","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-content-and-document-management"],"featured_image_url":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/14\/2019\/09\/Reuse-digital-teaser.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/teamcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/833","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/teamcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/teamcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/teamcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/52465"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/teamcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=833"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/teamcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/833\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":835,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/teamcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/833\/revisions\/835"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/teamcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/834"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/teamcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=833"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/teamcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=833"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/teamcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=833"},{"taxonomy":"industry","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/teamcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/industry?post=833"},{"taxonomy":"product","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/teamcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product?post=833"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/teamcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=833"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}