Manual Creation In-house Support Service

Experienced consultants will assist you in improving the manual creation process.

How can we better instill the fundamental knowledge and skills for manual creation? By comparing it to the "ideal state," what are the points for improvement in the manuals?
Human Science supports the resolution of challenges in in-house manual creation by improving the workflow of manual creation in response to common issues faced in the field.

Yokogawa Electric Corporation Clarification of the effective manual creation process and flow
Mitsubishi Electric Corporation Established a system to visualize manual creation tasks and inherit know-how
Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Co., Ltd. Acquired effective criteria for evaluating manuals
Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems, Ltd. Promoting the creation and operation of "user-friendly" manuals
IHI Corporation We want to improve service quality and synchronize with manuals for overseas markets.
Yamaha Corporation Group uses systems for document production workflows that are familiar tools such as GitHub and SourceTree.
Daiichi Sankyo Business Associates, Inc. Enables sharing of the mindset and direction of the manual manager.

Learn from Other Companies' Examples

How to Proceed with Manual Creation

Download here

Features of Human Science

1. Support from consultants who are well-versed in the key points of manual production

At first glance, creating manuals in-house may seem feasible, but the process involves a lot of hard work, such as identifying the target audience, anticipating various branching points, and considering solutions to address them, until completion.
Additionally, there is the risk that the manuals created in-house may not be used.
To prevent such situations, our company employs specialized consultants who conduct thorough interviews regarding the manual's subject. Our seasoned consultants will help standardize your business operations.

Consultant Introduction

Technical Writer and
Consultant with 20 years of experience
Hitoshi Yasuoka
Technical Writer and
Consultant with 16 years of experience
Kaori Horikoshi
Japanese-English and Multilingual Translation Coordinator and
Consultant
Yuriko Sawada

Click here for the list of consultants

2. Proposing the most suitable CMS for your company based on our extensive support experience

Since 1985, we have been involved in numerous manual creation projects and have used various types of manual creation software and CMS.
We understand the solutions to the common issue of "operations not going well" that can arise after the introduction of manual creation software and CMS.
At Human Science, we support our clients from the selection of the appropriate CMS to the operation, taking a neutral stance.

Flow of Selecting Manual Creation Software and CMS

Operational Flow Design

Environment Setup: Cloud
On-Premises
(Both)
*Applicable for CMS implementation

Template Creation: CSS (HTML)
YAML (PDF)

Manual Revision: Topic Creation
Modularization

Operations: Production Support
Server Management
License Management

CMS and Manual Creation Software Comparison Table

		Open Source	Wiki	CMS	DTP	Microsoft Office
		Example AsciiDoc + GitHub + ATOM + Redpen	Example Confluence		Example Adobe InDesign	Word, Excel, PowerPoint
		Combine necessary features with open source	Package/ Scratch	Package/ Scratch	Package	Package
Cost	Implementation Cost (System Construction, Software Purchase / Template Design)	1 to 3 million	1 to 3 million	10 million or more	100,000 to 500,000	50,000 to 300,000
Cost	License Fee	$7/month *1 license (GitHub)	$10/month *Up to 10 users (confluence)	By CMS	2,980 yen/month *InDesign	900 yen/month *Office365 Business
Ease of Operation		◎	◎	△○◎ by CMS	△	◎
Flexibility in PDF and HTML Design		○	△	○	◎	○
Is the maintenance burden light?		◎	◎	△	△	△
Is there scalability?		◎ Many plugins are available	○	△	△	△
Is version control possible?		◎ When and who performed the work, managed on the server	○	◎	×	×
Is workflow management possible?		◎ Creation, approval, publication and other workflow management is possible	○	◎ Creation, approval, publication and other workflow management is possible	×	×
Proofreading Function		◎ Achieved with Open Source Plugins	△	△ Often not available in package CMS	○ If developed, it can be implemented as a plugin	○ If developed, it can be implemented as a plugin
Security		○ Depending on the design, ◎	◎	◎	◎	○ In the case of Office365
Cloud		○◎ With Gitrabo, private cloud is possible	○ Depending on the design, ◎	○ Depending on the design, ◎	△	○ In the case of Office365

3. Practical seminars conducted by active writers are also available.

Learn about the pitfalls and failure cases in manual creation from an active technical writer who is engaged in manual creation on a daily basis.
I will share know-how, tips, and points to note gained from over 10 years of experience in manual production.

Support Details

Duration	About 1 month and up
Cost Estimate	From about 400,000 yen~
In-house support services after the reporting meeting	・Manual creation seminar ・Standardization Support (Format Creation, Guideline Development) ・Manual Writing CMS implementation consultation ・Director and Writer Dispatch

FAQ

QIs it possible to handle a manual with specialized content?: A
At Human Science, we have a wide range of production achievements, including product manuals and technical documents for the manufacturing industry, hardware/software manuals in the IT field, and manuals for engineers in the telecommunications sector.
In the field of business manuals, we have experience in producing manuals related to manufacturing, IT, retail/distribution, and insurance industries. We also handle the production of e-learning and training materials for internal education.

QI would like to have the meeting via a web conference, is that possible?: A
Yes, it is possible. Since 2020, we have been primarily conducting meetings with our clients via web conferences. In-person meetings are also possible, so please feel free to consult with us.

QIs it possible to hold a seminar tailored to our company's curriculum?: A
It is possible. We will plan according to your challenges. After hearing the points you want to strengthen, we will design the seminar text and lecture content.

QWhat kind of support do you provide specifically?: A
We will conduct an investigation of the current manuals and materials, identify issues in the production system, and submit an analysis report. After that, we will hold seminars as needed, create manual production guidelines, and provide support for establishing an internal production system.

QWhat are the costs and duration?: A
Depending on your challenges and our proposed solutions, the basic analysis report starts at 250,000 yen. For a detailed analysis report that shows examples of issue improvement and the implementation of a presentation meeting, we offer it starting at 600,000 yen.

QIs it possible to provide in-house support for the internal manuals and quality improvement on a permanent basis?: A
It is possible.

QWhat should I prepare?: A
Please let me take a look at the available materials.
Any type of materials is fine, such as product manuals, specifications, technical documents, or internal training materials.
If there are no organized materials, our consultants will conduct interviews to understand the content. Please feel free to consult with us first.

QIs it possible to provide in-house support and proposals even if we are already using CMS or manual creation software?: A
It is possible. We can support not only widely used applications such as Wiki and Confluence, but also manual creation using GitHub, AsciiDoc, Markdown, and more. Please feel free to contact us first.

Frequently Asked Questions