Statement from Major General Ian Dale

Technical documentation; its production, upkeep and advancement; is a vital component of cost effective, accurate and safe working for support and maintenance crews including getting them trained properly.  And this has never been more acute than now with the British Army’s rapid deployment of hundreds of UOR vehicles and equipment, some of which were brought into service so quickly that technical documentation struggled to keep up – with consequent limitations on REME crews at the sharp end in Afghanistan and in training for war.  So I was very pleased to attend last year’s TechDocsUK Conference where I saw all of these issues – and more – being aired and discussed by real subject matter experts.  I was left with a real sense of confidence that industry and the experts were right behind us doing all that was possible to do two key things: that is to put right that which needed attention now and to take forward technical documentation into the next level of sophistication.  In particular I was struck by the exciting prospect of blending technical documentation and training using 3D technology to deliver eManuals, and then adding sequenced augmented reality overlays to help train maintainers and to do complex tasks.  Even more exciting was the idea of putting all of this onto a single hand held terminal that maintainers can use in the field for all equipment.  The efficiencies speed and cost savings this will bring are profound.  Bring it on!

Major General Ian Dale, latterly Director Land Systems, DE&S

Aerospace and Defence TD Directory

You can now register on the TDU Aerospace and Defence Directory for organisations that specialise in technical information in the A&D markets HERE

About Tech Docs UK

What We Do:

• TD Policy Makers
• TD PRactitioners
• Industry Writers
• Industry Software/Solution Providers

To develop and sustain a Defence TD Community

How we do what we do:

• An annual conference supported and backed by DE&S, UKCeB and A|D|S
• Working together with the UKCeB
• Delivering seminars to Log NEC and SCM
• Developing routine newsletters
• Web-based updates and focused networking

Who gives us the Imperative?

• The common need to develop low cost TD that is accessible to all in defence wherever they are serving
• The need to harness changing technology with the need for up-to-date TD
• The need for simplicity in TD

TDUK 2011

TDUK – 2011 – The first event – Brigadier Nick Knudsen

The First Defence Technical Documentation Conference was held at BAWA Filton on 23 November 2011 and was a great success.  This was uniquely sponsored by DE&S who saw the great value in bringing together all players in the Defence Tech Docs World into a single conference so that this complex and vital area could be debated and solutions to problems found.

Tam Malloy demonstrated a vision for an integrated technical data environment where data is captured once but used many times – a vision that many of us share which is slowly being realised. This vision was shared by many in the room as our Tech Docs capability moved forward. It recognises that technical data is at the heart of Defence Logistics.

Brigadier Alan Clacher delivering his Keynote Address which set the scene for the day and got the discussion started.

The conference was opened by Brigadier Alan Clacher, Head of the Logistics Network Enabled Capability in DE&S who gave his vision for the future and how the Log NEC Programme, with Tech Docs playing a fundamental role, will be taken forward.  His Keynote Address demonstrated the real importance of Tech Docs to the UK MoD.

The Conference was given a refreshing, and light hearted, uplift by Peter Stuttard and Allen Goody of Aspire Consulting when they questioned whether Tec Docs were making the best use of rapidly developing technology.  Their presentation called “Technical Documentation Policy for the 21^st Century – No – Just show me how to do the job!” questioned many of our ways of working and pressed for the rapid adoption of better ways of simplifying Tech Docs delivery.  This was followed by Tam Malloy outlining the development of the BAE Systems Trilogy Viewer starting from its early days through to where it is developing as the MOD’s preferred viewer.

 

Our final session before lunch was from Steve Shepherd, Director of the UKCeB, who updated us all on the drive for coherent global standards and where much progress is being made

After some pretty strong debate over a hearty lunch, and afternoon of updates on what the latest technology can do to deliver Tech Docs started.

Delegates carry on the discussion during breaks where they were all encouraged to see the latest Tech Docs technology being demonstrated by the many companies supporting the Conference.

Lewis Marshall of Inmedius gave a graphic update on the developments that are starting to create a revolution in Tech Docs, reducing cost and complexity leading to far greater interactive technical manuals.  This was followed by Peter Feeney of TMS Support Solutions who demonstrated how they are overcoming the challenges of delivering Tech Docs in a deployed environment.  This has been embodied in their Engineering Logistics Visual Information System (ELVIS).  The final element of this technology panel was lead by AgustaWestland who demonstrated their Compound Interactive Electronic Technical Publication which has been developed over many years and very successfully provides support to many of their helicopters platforms.

The final session was started by Julian Murfitt of Mekon where he gave a very powerful overview of the capabilities of Adobe in his talk “To PDF or not to PDF” where he very ably demonstrated what can be achieved with this medium.  Our final speaker was Richard Hale of Altran Xype who took us on a tour of what is becoming available with 3D technology.  He examined the capabilities of this technology of the future and showed in great detail what it is capable of doing and its ease of use.

The Conference was closed by Major General Ian dale who, in his very succinct summary, quickly got to the heart of the need for accurate and timely Tech Docs on today’s battlefield and the vital role played by them with ever more complex military equipment.  This was a very fitting end to the first ever TechDocs UK Conference.

It was very pleasing to note on the customer feedback form that all who attended the conference had a great time and wanted a repeat in 2012 – I look forward to meeting you, and more, at our next conference on 15 Nov 12.

TDUK 2012

TDUK 2012 – 15 November – BAWA, Filton, Bristol

Introduction

After the hugely successful 2011 event, TDUK will be held again in Filton to allow for maximum attendance from the MoD

The Day

The day is planned to follow:

• Updates from DE&S
• Industry Presentations
• Exhibition and Technology area
• Networking opportunities