Client/Employer
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Work Performed
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Private-sector rocket-ship manufacturer
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Wrote, illustrated, & edited plans, reports, user manuals, & Wiki pages for the testing of rocket engines, rocket-engine avionics, & other components & for electronic equipment used for the testing of rocket engines, rocket-engine avionics, & other components.
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Manufacturer of hydronic-system controls
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Wrote, illustrated, & edited technical & instructional materials & user manuals for electronic & wireless mobile control devices for hydronic heating & cooling systems.
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Integrator of manufacturing systems
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Generated graphics for high-level sales & technical presentations for marketing executives & for dozens of engineers. Created technical illustrations & renderings of $100MM to $500MM major projects. Edited proposals & project documents.
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National-brand brewery
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Captured & propagated institutional knowledge on high-profit-margin product line to support expansion & succession plans. Wrote & illustrated comprehensive manual explaining complex & subtle automated post-fermentation chemical processes. Wrote & illustrated instructional manuals for system operation, maintenance, & troubleshooting, & for configuration of system for different operating modes. Wrote & illustrated instructional manual for product quality assurance. (Tragically, however, I never got any beer out of the deal.)
Case Study:
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Scenario
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Action
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Result
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- Complex & subtle proprietary chemical processes used in highly profitable product line.
- Only one SME & two trained operators on staff.
- Plan to scale up process & duplicate system at a second facility.
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- Developed comprehensive training materials targeting novice-level end users.
- Covered multi-stage chemical processes, system operation, maintenance, troubleshooting, & quality assurance.
- Included theory of operation, system configuration, & step-by-step procedures.
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- Improved product quality by standardizing operating methods.
- Training program enabled novice operators to master a complex process rapidly.
- Enabled company to scale up & expand product-line capacity over tenfold despite turnover of all key personnel.
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Manufacturer of automated case conveyors
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Managed technical documentation for over two dozen case-conveyor product lines marketed under multiple corporate identities. Wrote, illustrated, updated, & maintained product manuals. Subject matter included application guidelines & instructions for installation, operation, maintenance & troubleshooting, & spare parts. Supervised 5 other technical writers & technical illustrators. Maintained historical version control.
Case Study:
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Scenario
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Action
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Result
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- Company was providing a full set of manuals in hard copy with binders & shipping to scores of distributors, manufacturers' representatves, & customers every year.
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Converted manuals to electronic form with hyperlinked tables of contents & hyperlinks connecting individual manual PDFs and main menu.
- Initial distribution was via CDs, later switched to Internet distribution.
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- Slashed reproduction & distribution costs & turn-around time to a fraction of their previous levels.
- Enabled rapid update capability.
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Manufacturer of automated printing systems
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Wrote & illustrated instructional materials for maintaining automated, web-fed, ink-jet, perfector printing systems.
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Manufacturer of CNC machine tools
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Edited, wrote & illustrated operation & maintenance manuals for CNC machining centers. Topics included spindle & through-the-tool coolant delivery, linear axis travel, rotary indexing table, tool changer, chip conveyor & coolant filtration, workpiece & tool measurement systems, etc.
Case Study:
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Scenario
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Action
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Result
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- CNC machining center designed in Japan; no engineers or SMEs in the American facility were familiar with the product.
- Prototype manuals were poorly translated from Japanese; many details were unclear.
- Engineering drawings consisted of PDF files; In section views, many hatching lines could not be distinguished from contour lines.
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- Observed physical product in both static & dynamic states intently to understand mechanical operation.
- Rewrote text in clear, standard English with proper nomenclature.
- Converted many figures in prototype manuals from drafting style to illustration style; differentiated shading eliminated ambiguities.
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- Finished manuals improved clarity & coherence over prototype manuals by 75%.
- End users estimated that graphic-illustration-style figures in revised manuals were between 100% to 200% easier to understand tnan ambiguous drafting-style figures in prototype manuals.
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Manufacturer of paper-making machinery
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Generated technical illustrations for operating & maintenance manuals for paper-making machinery. Topics included safety, principles of operation, mechanical controls, etc. Developed illustration style that enabled rendering of enormous (e.g., up to 300 feet long) machinery on a letter-sized page intelligibly. Produced dozens of dimensional data diagrams to ensure conformance to engineering standards.
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Manufacturer of automated printing presses
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Wrote & illustrated operation & maintenance manuals for automated, web-fed, perfector offset printing systems, including safety, mechanical systems, & local machine controls as well as duplicate controls on main computer console.
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Manufacturer of medical-diagnostic equipment
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Generated illustrations for parts manuals for electromechanical devices that inject contrast fluid into human blood stream in preparation for MRIs, X-rays, etc. Wrote macros that generated script files for converting 100s of legacy CAD files to new platform overnight.
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Manufacturer of commercial kitchen equipment
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Captured & published institutional knowledge to support relocation of manufacturing operations to new city without transferring any production personnel. Designed, wrote & illustrated end-to-end, step-by-step assembly manuals for 19 models of commercial ovens. Tactfully elicited captive how-to knowledge from employees about to lose their jobs. Generated easy-to-follow progressive wiring diagrams that avoided crossing lines. Relocation was successful & smooth.
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Manufacturer of national-brand consumer products
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Produced CAD drawings (fabrication, weldment, assembly, & bills of material) for rotary-knife modules in web-fed conversion line for plastic-laminated-paper personal-hygiene products.
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Manufacturer of commercial-grade architectural & ventilating products
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Generated trade advertising & technical literature for multiple lines of ventilating products. Developed & conducted marketing study to determine buying influences. Designed new products & custom applications.
Case Study:
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Scenario
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Action
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Result
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- Cincinnati manufacturer was opening a Phoenix branch to serve western states.
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- Generated full-page ad announcing new location for insertion in national trade journal.
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- Ad yielded 175% more responses per dollar of cost than the previous advertising campaign.
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- Management had no empirical basis for making advertising placement decisions or matching product benefits to buying criteria.
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- Designed & implemented market study measuring buying influence & buying criteria by market segment for each of six product lines.
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- Enabled judicious selection of media based on circulation statistics & tailoring of advertising messages to match target audiences per product line.
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- Manufacturing was fabricating custom formed-steel products using trial-&-error band-saw cutting of components at custom angles after forming.
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- Applied analytic geometry to prepare shop drawings specifying precise custom shearing angles in-the-flat, enabling perfect component fit post-forming.
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- Dramatically reduced fabrication & assembly time & eliminated scrap, increasing net profit by over 90 percent.
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Developer of custom engineered products
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Performed drafting (design & detail drawings) for engineering projects including automated packaging machinery, robotic end effectors & ancillary equipment.
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Manufacturer of drinking fountains & hydrants
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Designed, wrote & illustrated data sheets for dozens of drinking fountains & hydrants, including feature overview, recommended specifications, & instructions for installation & maintenance.
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Manufacturer of commercial-grade steel doors
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Generated technical literature for product installation. Generated cut-away illustrations to show comparative features of competitive products.
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Manufacturer of modular office furniture
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Wrote & illustrated assembly instructions for entire panoply of possible workstation configurations. Product line included diverse assortment of desk-section components that provided 100s of possible left-hand & right-hand workstation configurations. All possible configurations were covered while minimizing total page count.
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Fulfillment center for investment advisors
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Wrote process instructions for new procedures. Edited pre-existing instructional materials. Conformed process instructions to formatting standards for content-management system.
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Country Club
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Generated posters & fliers & created cartoons to promote club activities. Published annual calendars of club events. Created highly successful newspaper advertisements to support membership drive.
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