EKR allows you to build a single centralized database.

One of the main advantages of the system is that it leads you to manage only one data container, capable of ordering all the information, before divided between the various archives of the various company departments.

Even the translation management is very handy.

We appreciate the flexibility in generating and publishing different documents starting from a single master. With EKR we created the catalog and then we published it in 5-6 different language versions, maintaining a single graphic layout. The same for the technical manuals and for other documents that we intend to carry out, when we will be even better!

From a graphic point of view we work better than InDesign. With EKR we create established templates that are then reused, without having to get them back in each time. The uniformity that derives from it visually is definitely an improvement. Using InDesign released from the database always changed the details, the layout was never the same. Especially with the linguistic variants: in addiction to longer times, the document was never the same. With EKR, once the layout has been set, go away safely!

The centralization of the single data in the company is an organizational effort that surely costs, but it is a mandatory step. What you pay for otherwise is to always have redundancies and waste, not only of spaces for the storage of data but also of lost time in recovering what is actually the right information!

Having a central, aligned and maintained archive that is the only source of information is certainly the need of every company. Getting there from an organizational point of view is not easy, but it is the goal to aim for. We come from SAP, so we are already well established! EKR helps, indeed forces towards a solution of this type: it was a positive coercion! Giving too much freedom in these areas could be deleterious, if the purpose is to maintain an organized infrastructure and above all to guarantee the coherence of information.

We’ve grown a lot over time,

both in terms of number of machines and technical complexity. Ours is a configurable and increasingly personalized product. MG2 produces automatic machines for the pharmaceutical industry: a highly regulated sector in which the technical documentation must be carried out with particular rigor and precision.

The order of magnitude is onerous: the manuals provided for each machine can reach 1500 total pages. And this “only” for the instruction manual, to which it is necessary to add other documentation such as validation procedures, etc.

The activity carried out by the Technical Documentation Department was recognized by our customers as quality, but the production of the documentation was basically “handcrafted”. We were therefore very effective but inefficient. For the editorial staff used Word with specific models and macros to simplify the layout. Documentation production was also supported by specific tools. Translation management was manual. The professionalism and competence of colleagues made it possible to produce high quality technical documents, but at the cost of mainly manual operations. From an analysis it emerged that the hours spent in non-value added activities were many: this prompted us to analyze alternative solutions for the document workflow.

We carried out a software selection that led to EKR: convinced us not only about the presence on the territory but also the willingness to work alongside us in the analysis and to customize their CMS according to our needs, as was necessary. EKR gave us a lot of support: it didn’t just sell the software and that’s it, but it immediately supported us during the initial analysis, which turned out to be very complex.

To whom do I recommend it? Jokingly I would say “to someone who is not sane!”, But in reality I recommend EKR to companies that want to really tidy up the amount of technical information they manage, because it allows understanding the redundancy of the contents and duplication of files. EKR clearly shows that the same information exists in a thousand different variations depending on the department: commercial, technical, etc. It allows to manage the data life cycle avoiding to wonder if it is reliable or not. If it is “validated” it is reliable! It forces you to think about the structuring of the product, optimizing the variants.

Staff training is a delicate phase, but as soon as the editors understand the benefits of the new system of working their collaboration is assured and the learning curve is relatively fast.

The biggest advantage so far?

EKR forced us to collect the data in one place and organize them. The resulting automatic layout is definitely a benefit, but I think the aspect that will remain the most is cataloging.

Before EKR, I made all layouts by hand. Certainly there was a different flexibility: if I had to add to the last or make something stay, I just inserted it, one way or another. The effort we made with EKR was precisely to gather all the possible additions, sometimes it was almost necessary to foresee the future, just to avoid having to manually modify the documents.

It has been a busy month … to explain to EKR how corporate life unfolds we had to make a huge effort: piling up a whole world according to precise criteria was a big job. The organization of the data has been the subject of much discussion with Marco and the other EKR staff, above all on the WHO had to fix them!

I have to say that it was hard to agree, the reality of a corporate workflow is not always so linear: then we got a really wonderful job! Today the automatic layout of the resulting price list is a very productive aspect.

The documentation we produce with EKR stands out above all for higher quality. But also to insert different and sudden versions: in a short time today I could print the whole list with different prices.

EKR is a method that can be adapted to any business reality and any type of content, even if we use it mainly to lay out technical data: in my opinion is also suitable for updating a website or other media.

A few years ago it was difficult to have a structured congruence of the manuals.

Every manual written in InDesign lived its own life. It was difficult to manage the terminology on the different manuals: many times the same phrase was customized on the various documents by adding or removing, without it being so necessary.

Today when a new text is created there is a more comprehensive analysis, not limited to that moment: there is a structure that needs to be analyzed a little better. The phrase that can go well for a manual, for example, could be good for others, so it should be written in a somewhat more neutral form, trying to optimize information. EKR has certainly brought us a better rating than we write.

And rightly so, the system must lead to more structured terminology management.

We are no longer among the rugged mountains, we must follow flows and processes that must be thought of!

An important step? EKR allowed us the management of Arabic, both the layout and the publication, operations that previously we had to entrust externally. Today, on the other hand, we only give the translation outside, but we are able to paginate and publish internally in Arabic.

Then there are all the other languages: the system has certainly allowed us to improve in their management. It is not only a matter of time and autonomy, but also of savings. Today, translations are made only on sections of text that have not yet been translated, reducing time and costs.

EKR also helped us to improve the quality of the translations, because having an internal Baltur memory we have the possibility to do checks and research, working on quality without always referring to external studies.

This management leaves no regrets about what was abandoned, it is a system that I have analyzed and chosen for myself. After a careful evaluation, EKR seemed to me the most suitable system for our company. Their flexibility in the management of new problems is certainly a valid support in the future.

Before EKR there was a lot of manual work to do.

We had a database that exported data and then worked with InDesign. The work was really expensive because it had to be repeated by hand for all other languages.

The challenge was to be able to paginate a catalog of thousands of pages of products, of which different ones required the integration of particular contents, with the consequent obligation to modify the standard structure of the pages themselves. EKR is made right for this, even though we had to take it to the limit and ask for additional features that have been implemented to achieve the goal. The goal is to completely eliminate manual intervention and we are very close to this result.

It was a complex project that took a lot of time and energy. Initially, for example, we could not manage the more specific cards: now it is running at full speed and we have really very limited the final adjustments. Not to mention that the same information must also flow into the web. With EKR we were able to automate a large part of the process, and this was the focus.

with Federica Sena, Marketing Department of Elesa Spa

EKR is really handy for translations.

First we wrote more freehand. Now instead we try to pursue a certain consistency thanks to the system that pushes us to maintain a certain uniformity in the proposal of both sentences that are repeated for different products, and in the choice of terminology. With EKR we produce similar, more standardized information to be able to quickly reuse the translations.

I assisted and coordinated the introduction of EKR PIM in Came Group from day one.

It is not always an easy task. In Came Group EKR PIM is an interdepartmental project and therefore brings out the organizational complexity of each different department. He could drown at any time … but we’re doing it!

The key advantages of the system? First of all have a single repository ordered for all the info. Then, clearly define the names and surnames of the managers. Third, the updates: when a datum changes, it varies in any media.

In the initial phase there was also a review of the data structures, EKR PIM eliminated the duplication of some categories and caused the redefinition of others: the appetite comes with eating and we took the opportunity to improve our information !

After catalogs and manuals, we have extended EKR PIM to the web world. We are exploiting the advantages of an effective Product Information Management to turn ours into a real product site.

EKR PIM takes away the individual’s ownership on some business processes in favor of sharing, and for me it is a great advantage. If the person holding that piece of information is missing, the others cannot go on, you have to wait for them to come back from illness or holidays because the necessary data are in his hands. EKR PIM instead leads to work for the company, not for the individual.

I recommend EKR PIM as a solution for the single source of truth (the only source of correct information, D.R.R.) to those who have the desire and interest to really put order on the flow of information in the company, dividing it between the various managers.

EKR means a margin of error of almost zero, in addition to saving time.

Compared to the past, the technical documentation today has a very different value.

Machinery is increasingly complex, not only do I have to learn to use it well, but if I don’t write the right phrase someone gets hurt or ends up in court.
We make highly personalized technical maintenance and usage documents translated into at least 8 languages, but we also get up to 20. We used InDesign with very powerful scripts to try to automate a piece of work.

With EKR we manage a single master from which to derive everything, even with different graphic templates, is a very flexible tool.

We have learned to produce better content to be able to catalog well, optimize and recover data.
Writing better is a great advantage: the information must never be ambiguous but always clearly understandable.
We are a technical base, in Docutec we “force” the program and put it to the test: EKR is an open system, potentially without limits. For us it is a tool that allows you to do practically anything you want.

It is certainly complex: an entry level user if not placed in the correct manner takes fear, if maybe he worked in Word then … I think it is difficult to propose: we must not be scared and be predisposed to change.
I can say that we were born together with EKR: ours is a very family approach!