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XML Conversion and the Automotive IndustryWhy XML?Automotive manufacturers and their suppliers continually strive to control costs, increase productivity, and improve speed. Documentation professionals are under constant pressure to produce and publish large quantities of information on short cycles, in multiple formats, and with the highest degree of accuracy. Many automotive organizations recognize that moving to an XML content infrastructure can dramatically improve the process of preparing, managing, and delivering customized content over a wide variety of traditional and electronic distribution channels. By using XML to automate publishing processes and improve information quality, automotive companies can greatly reduce costs and publishing times. XML also helps ensure compliance with J2008, a family of standards developed by the membership of the Society of Automotive Engineers in response to the mandate of the Clean Air Act to address the problem of accurate and accessible emission-related automotive service information. The Challenges of Converting to XMLThe advantages of capturing information in XML can go beyond making existing processes more efficient and effective. But automotive materials, like those in most other industries, are often produced using a variety of tools and formats (e.g. word processors, desktop publishing applications, presentation software, etc.), from both modern and legacy applications. A major issue for automotive manufacturers and suppliers is therefore the conversion of huge quantities of disparate source materials from their original proprietary formats into robust, accurate, usable XML. Until now, XML conversion has had to be either outsourced or undertaken in-house, either manually, or via scripting software. But when content is tagged by hand, either in-house or by a third party, it's easy to introduce errors into the conversion process. Significant post-conversion review and editing will generally be required before you can use your XML. Manual conversion is also extremely resource-intensive and can involve a lengthy turnaround time. Scripting solutions fare no better, and rely on rigid conformance to formatting styles in the original word processor document. However, human authors generally do not create documents in such a consistent manner, and low-quality XML output can result. Scripting software can also involve costly and lengthy custom programming for each type of document, and for each proprietary application that is used to create those documents. We have significant experience with XML conversion for the automotive industry, and can offer expertise and assistance with shop manuals, maintenance and service manuals, auto repair manuals, owners manuals, parts manuals, etc. We can also provide transformations to J2008 where required. |
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