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 the testing of 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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National-brand brewery
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Wrote & illustrated instructional materials for automated post-fermentation chemical processes & procedures. Wrote & illustrated instructional materials 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 lines marketed under multiple corporate identities. Generated & updated product manuals, including application guidelines & instructions for installation, operation, maintenance, troubleshooting & spare parts. Supervised 4 other writers & 1 additional illustrator. Maintained 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 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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- Reproduction & distribution costs & turn-around time were slashed 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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Fulfillment center for financial services
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Edited preexisting instructional materials. Wrote new process instructions as necessary. Conformed process instructions to formatting standards for integration into content-management system.
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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 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; 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 100%.
- Unfortunately, resulting sales, performance, & customer-satisfaction data were never disclosed to me.
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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 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 for 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 modular office furniture
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Product line included diverse assortment of desk-section components that provided 100s of possible workstation configurations. Wrote & illustrated a data-&-assembly instruction sheet for each right-hand & each left-hand version of each desk section to support entire panoply of possible workstation configurations.
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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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Designed, wrote & illustrated end-to-end, step-by-step assembly manuals for 19 models of commercial ovens, to support relocation of manufacturing operations to new city without transferring any production personnel. 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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Integrator of manufacturing systems
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Provided graphics support for sales & engineering presentations. Generated technical illustrations & renderings of $100MM to $200MM major projects. Edited proposals & project documents.
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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 for personal-hygiene, plastic-laminated paper product line.
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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 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 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 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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Country Club
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Generated posters & fliers to promote club activities. Published annual calendars of club events. Created newspaper advertisements to support membership campaign.
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