Patchwork of spare parts documentation:
Inefficiency throughout the entire process

Nobody who has to create a catalog in the machinery and plant construction sector has it easy. Technical writing is not regarded as a profit center, but rather as a department that drains the coffers instead. The catalog creators themselves are under enormous time pressure, just one of the many challenges they face.

 

When you look at your own workload, do any of these points sound familiar to you?

Catalogs are frequently created using tedious analog processes that eat up resources. Once the creators have finally collected all the data they need, the information is often already out of date.
 

The information for parts comes from different departments and their own specific parts lists. It is up to the Technical Writing department to pool this flood of data into something understandable.
 

Updating and translating cata­logs in PDF or print for­mat is incre­dibly challeng­ing and calls for an immense ef­fort on the part of the Tech­nical Wri­ting depart­ment. This task is dif­fi­cult to accomplish, par­ticu­larly in view of the shor­tage of skil­led workers.

Catalogs that are created and published under these conditions also tend to make life more difficult for customers and service technicians:

  • If a catalog does not reflect the “As-maintained” or “As-built” status, but only the “As-designed” status, and does not contain the parts actually installed in the respective machine, customers may, in the worst case, have to put up with increased downtimes and high costs.
  • To comply with applicable standards and guidelines, machines must be supplied with technical documents such as operating instructions and a parts catalog. Since no standards are set for the catalog, it is often added as a PDF to the end of the documentation. This makes it difficult to identify the spare parts that are required.
  • When catalogs are produced in analog form and published as a PDF or in paper format, operators do not have access to up-to-date parts information everywhere and at any time.

The key to success

Service business – and the sale of spare parts in particular – has become an important sales drivers for manufacturers. An up-to-date spare parts catalog – including “As-built” and “As-maintained” information plus material numbers for each spare part – is essential to allow customers and technicians to find and order the parts they need.

If the Technical Writing department is able to network monetizable information intelligently as well as optimize the creation and publication of catalogs, this will help to significantly increase sales in plant engineering and construction.

BE Semiconductor Industries N.V.
„Since the introduction of Quanos SIS.one, we have already created and published more than 2,335 catalogs“

BE Semiconductor Industries N.V. Frank Goller, Director Spares and Tooling

Wirtgen Group
„We wanted to be able to roll out documentation updates as quickly and frequently as possible with as little effort as possible - instead of three times a year as before. The update process itself was also to be simplified - we had previously sent out eleven DVDs each time, now the updates should be possible online. [...] The transfer of data from SAP to the Workbench is almost completely automated. [...] This means that hardly any manual work is required on the way from SAP to the online catalog. We are now able to publish a new version of the catalog every month instead of three times a year.“

Wirtgen Group Dr.-Ing. Frank Jenne, responsible for information systems at the Wirtgen Group

LTW Intralogistics
„With support from Quanos, we were able to successfully introduce 3D parts catalogs. And the Quanos team is supporting us even after the implementation. Together we are developing the catalogs further and in doing so, achieving continuous improvements in the creation process and in terms of usability for our customers.“

LTW Intralogistics Lisa-Maria Burtscher, Technical editor

Koenig & Bauer Sheetfed AG & Co. KG
„The processes used to create spare parts catalogs have been greatly streamlined since the introduction of the electronic versions and its benefits have improved significantly: up-to-date, machine-specific online catalogs, a reduction in incorrect orders, and apps available across any type of end device.“

Koenig & Bauer Sheetfed AG & Co. KG Jörg Hennig, Group Leader Technical Documentation

Julius Blum GmbH
„By switching to the spare parts catalogue software CATALOGcreator®, Julius Blum GmbH was able to considerably reduce the time required for the creation of spare parts catalogues and also the costs. [...]“

Julius Blum GmbH Markus Hofer, project manager

Efficient results and flexible publishing with digitalized catalog creation

Sentence inconvenient analog processes to the past where they belong. A spare parts catalog system allows you to create catalogs in a fraction of the time and publish them seamlessly on different channels.

Efficient data management helps to solve the challenges facing technical writers and catalog creators. It creates a continuous flow of data, from the collection of information for catalogs and their creation to media-independent publication and beyond.

Machine and plant manufacturers respond to these challenges by using software for interactive spare parts catalogs. Catalog software interconnects with the existing systems in a company, which drastically reduces sources of error as well as the effort required to generate spare parts documentation.

Easier catalog creation

Existing company data does not have to be painstakingly collected, but flows into the spare parts documentation automatically or via manual import. Adjustments to layout or content are possible at any time and without programming knowledge.

Even 3D data can be used, making spare parts catalogs even more intuitive.

One-click publishing

A catalog system makes it easy to publish catalogs for different users, media, and machines, and in multiple languages – online or offline.

Published information can be reused as required, saving time both now and in the future.

Quanos SIS.one: Provides 100% efficient catalog processes

Are you keen to create, publish, translate, and update your spare parts catalogs with minimal outlay and effort? Quanos SIS.one allows you to accomplish all this and more in a single software application.

Facts about the Quanos SIS.one digital catalog system:

  • The software simplifies the (partially) automated or manual creation and publication of spare parts catalogs, and also reduces the workload of the catalog creator.
  • The platform consolidates, integrates, and links together relevant data for spare parts documentation from different departments and systems.
  • Technical writers are highly capable of conveying complex matters in a simple way – the user-friendly interface assists them and makes service-relevant data clearly available around the clock to colleagues, technicians, and customers.

The Technical Writing department is more than just a collection point for data. Quanos SIS.one leverages the potential for efficiency that lies dormant there and enables faster processes at low costs, keeping technical writers, manufacturers, technicians, and operators happy.

More about Quanos SIS.one

Quanos SIS.one takes catalog creation to a new level

What does creating spare parts catalogs from a central data pool and publishing them in all media involve in practical terms?

Information about

Create catalogs
 

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Information about

Publish catalogs
 

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Create catalogs in no time

Use Quanos SIS.one to create machine, customer, and user-specific catalogs in every language. Integrated tools for the automated or manual preparation and optimization of data will assist you with this.

The data comes from ERP, CCMS, DMS, PIM, CAD, CAE, or logistics systems and is linked bidirectionally in Quanos SIS.one – data silos are a thing of the past. Mechanisms such as encryption or defamiliarization of 3D visualizations protect your intellectual property against unauthorized access.

Quality assurance also ensures that only high-quality catalogs are published, and the WYSIWYG editor (What You See Is What You Get) allows you to create catalog layouts in your corporate design.

More information in our brochure

How professional catalog creation works

Get to know all the advantages of digitally created catalogs. Our brochure summarizes key functions and integrations.

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Publication made easy

A fully automated publication process in Quanos SIS.one allows single-source publishing – use all data from a single source for all media. Publish catalogs online, offline or, depending on the application, as a print version. Automated, semi-automated, or manual updates ensure that your catalogs are always up to date.

Even after publication, Quanos SIS.one gives you full control and data sovereignty over your catalogs. The on-premise solution ensures availability and access to your catalog at all times.

Free brochure

Contemporary and multi-channel catalog publishing

Read our free brochure to learn about all the options offered by Quanos SIS.one to help you publish your catalogs.

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Advantages of digitally created and published catalogs

Digital catalog creation helps manufacturers achieve gains in efficiency on several levels.

Our customers can use it to:

100 %

Produce 100%
more catalogs

40 %

Save 40% on spare part catalog production costs

367 %

Achieve 367% more efficiency
in catalog production

15 min

Invest only 15 minutes in creating catalogs instead of several weeks

750k pages

Save 750,000 pages
of paper

6 times faster

Update their content
six times faster

Ready for more digitalization with Quanos SIS.one

Quanos SIS.one increases your efficiency and sales. It also forms the basis for digitalizing your aftersales and service. Add further content such as technical documentation, circuit diagrams, hydraulic diagrams, videos, or images to turn your interactive spare parts catalog into a comprehensive service information system. It intelligently links content with spare parts information and creates an important source of data for users. The Technical Writing department makes a valuable contribution to this.

See for yourself

Creating and publishing spare parts catalogs is so simple

What used to take you weeks will now take just minutes with Quanos SIS.one. Create and publish spare parts catalogs efficiently, and save paper, time, and costs.

Would you like to know what a finished digital spare parts catalog made with Quanos SIS.one looks like? Get to know the software now without obligation.

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