SAN DIEGO From your mom’s waffle maker to that old drill collecting dust in the garage, every manufactured product must ship with a user manual. This is a simple rule that every company follows, but it’s not as easy as it sounds.

Product documentation is one of the biggest challenges that manufacturing companies face. It might sound easy to print some manuals and drop them in a box, but anyone who keeps a hectic manufacturing schedule knows better. Product documentation can be a logistical nightmare.

Most companies simply do not have the resources to do all of the writing, translation, updates, printing and delivery by themselves. So they end up with several outside contracts handling these different tasks. While coordinating all this wastes engineering time and costs a small fortune, most companies just accept it as part of the cost of doing business.

Panasonic, however, has a different idea. The electronics manufacturer contracts International Technoprint to manage all user manual printing and logistics for its entire line of televisions made in Tijuana. As part of the Yamagata Printing Group, International Technoprint is a company that offers complete, end-to-end documentation services.

“Panasonic is really benefiting from our full range of services,” said Mark Caleb, International Technoprint business development manager. “We handle all of the writing, last-minute engineering changes, printing, warehousing and delivery.”

Content Development

At Panasonic, content development starts with technical writers who know all about the products. George Kuzhivelil and Lee Hooks work on-site and take full responsibility for writing clear, concise user manuals. They free up engineers to spend more time developing quality products, rather than running around trying to write manuals as an afterthought.

“If something comes up, these guys handle it immediately,” said Rafael Ahumada, Panasonic product engineer. “All I have to do is give them the schedule, and they take care of everything. They save me a ton of legwork and allow me to concentrate on developing quality products.”

“Our number one goal is to make product documentation run as smoothly as possible,” said Kuzhivelil. “When the TVs have last-minute engineering changes, we’re right there to learn all about it and update the manuals.”

Communication & Logistics

In addition to working with product engineers to develop all user manual content, International Technoprint communicates with purchasing to make sure that all logistics are buttoned down. Every aspect of every project is monitored and tracked for accuracy, timeliness and cost. This has resulted in huge savings for Panasonic on several occasions.

Let’s take a look at a typical example. When the purchasing department requests a large shipment of more than 100,000 manuals, they are sometimes unaware that an engineering change order (ECO) is coming in a few days. Normally, this unfortunate timing results in wasted staff time and costly reprints or addendums.

At about six cents per manual for 120,000 manuals, an addendum would cost $36,000. Add that to the cost of having workers insert the pages, and the cost quickly soars over $40,000. International Technoprint helps Panasonic avoid this clumsy scenario by working with both groups.

“We work with engineering and purchasing personnel every day,” said Caleb. “We are in an ideal position to recommend delaying a print order until the engineering change is made. Our communication lets them get it right the first time and save lots of money.”

Printing

International Technoprint produces Panasonic’s user manuals at a state-of-the-art print facility in Los Angeles. “Based on price and quantity requirements, we often print the manuals on a Timsom Web printing machine,” said Caleb. “We can turn around huge orders in just 24 hours.”

The Timsom T-32 Web printing machine is ideal for long run work. The huge machine prints, dries and folds user manuals in a single pass. Using 50-pound rolls of white smooth offset paper, it prints up to 1200 feet per minute.

Delivery & Warehousing

Once the manuals are printed, International Technoprint trucks them across the U.S. border directly to a warehouse near Panasonic’s manufacturing plant in Tijuana. Called Vendor Managed Inventory or VMI, this method makes it fast and easy for Panasonic to ship the manuals in television boxes to customers throughout North and South America.

In the old days, Panasonic responded to weekly orders by calling a freight forwarding company to pull the manuals across the border. These repeated trips drove up prices, and complications like border delays often held up shipping.

Now, rather than printing 40,000 manuals and shipping them every week, International Technoprint prints 160,000 a month and warehouses them locally. Panasonic is spending less money and consistently meeting shipping deadlines.

“Our Vendor Managed Inventory system allows us to deliver manuals quickly and easily whenever and wherever Panasonic needs them,” said Caleb. “We write the manuals at the plant in Tijuana, print them in Los Angeles and ship them back across the border to Tijuana.”

“We have the resources and the desire to make product documentation painless for our client. This is what separates us from a printer or a document developer. We handle everything – from documentation to done.”