Tips and Tricks for Web Manuals Implementation
10 Tips and Tricks for Web Manuals Implementation
In this post, the 10 most valuable steps to follow not to get stuck during the Web Manuals implementation are mentioned.
One thing I would lie to point out beforehand:
If you have problems, ideas, suggestions and tips please
Ask For Help and exchange your knowledge in this community and never be to shy to talk to the WM support as you will get professional and quick help.
Here is his best 10 tips and tricks to follow to optimize your Web Manuals implementation:
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Get management behind you and motivate them
As soon as you have finished your initial editor training, keep feeding management about the benefits of the software investment. It is important to keep your management up to date throughout the entire implementation project.
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Setup a strict timeline what to do and when to achieve it
Prioritize different manuals and be realistic with the time frames. Understand that certain manuals take weeks or even months to implement.
When setting up the timeline, consider the following:
- Where do I start
- What do we have now
- Where do I want to be in the future
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Do not think everything has to be done immediately
Always think step-by-step:
You don’t have to implement all manuals at once, import them as PDFs and then convert them one by one
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Define who is responsible for the software and the editing, reviewing and publishing of documents
It is very important that you define the main responsible person or persons for the software. Often one person takes the main responsibility, however I recommend to split the responsibility between several people if possible. A compliance software such as Web Manuals is more responsibility than one would initially think.
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Set up the folder structure
Once the responsibility is defined it is time for that person, or those persons, to create a folder setup. When deciding on the folder setup, list all documents and explore different ways to group them.
Before deciding on a setup structure, replicate a few alternatives on the desktop and present them for discussion. It pays off to put in the extra work when deciding such fundamentals
The Category tree could be setup as follows for example:
a.) by companies or AOCs if you have more than one
b.) by departments within the AOCs if you have more than one AOC
c.) by aircraft types used
Try to always keep the same structure of subcategories under the Parent categories. This makes it easier to work in the system and for the reader to find documents
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Implement users and decide on roles and permissions
Discuss with department heads who are responsible for specific processes and different manuals. Start defining roles e.g. by departments such as maintenance, CAMO and flight ops. Break it down further to specific roles such as the cabin crew, cockpit and chief pilot. Lastly, break it down to certain fleets and make sure to define each and every process at all levels of the organization to optimize user management.
We at DC Aviation have decided to be transparent with all documents, meaning every role can see every document. That is why a user role e.g. employee in general has been created who has the ability to read all documents. That eases up to only control the remind functions
However, other companies choose to only show documents connected to the role. It depends much on folder structure and amount of documents.
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Define which roles should view which documents and which documents would have to be read by certain roles
When all roles, users and permissions are identified and added to the system, go through every role and decide which document must be read by a certain user. Then add Remind ( R ) to the document next to the role in the permissions table, as shown in the picture below.
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If used, start an EFB trial phase before you implement the reader application
When implementing Web Manuals Reader App as your Electronic Flight Bag (EFB), it is important running it parallel with your previous EFB solution. This allows issues to be identified, analyzed and mitigated without having an effect on current operations.
Once the EFB trial is up and running, consider the following:
- Defining popular fleet
- Identifying all EFB general and types
- Training all pilots on how to use the EFB
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Start implementing the documentation step-by-step, prioritize one manual at a time
Only now, start implementing the documentation step-by-step. As mentioned, go ahead one manual at a time to not overwhelm yourself with work before you gain experience.
I would prioritize the manuals too. Start with these manuals that only exist once and that might have the least pictures and complex tables in its content (OM-A, OM-D, SMM, QMM etc.)”
“Why? The MEL and the OM-B of different fleets all might have the same introduction and general part. It takes a bit of knowledge gained when implementing the first mentioned manuals first, but once the knowledge is there one can start working with mirroring of complete chapters. Basically creating one OM-B and MEL as a standard and then Copying/ mirroring the general part from that master OM-B/ MEL so that at the end only the aircraft relevant parts need to be adjusted.”
“The advantage? If something in the general part needs a change, it will only be changed in the master and all other document owners will receive messages and the changes are done automatically.”
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Link regulations to your subheadings for compliance monitoring
The very last step is to start linking regulations to your subheadings for compliance monitoring. By linking the regulations from Web Manuals compliance libraries to your manuals, you activate the compliance monitoring part of the system.
Once the regulations are connected, Web Manuals notifies you when a change is made in regulations and where the manuals need to be amended accordingly. The system also warns you if any compliance related issue needs to be controlled before publishing.
In addition, adding the compliance libraries and linking the regulations also allows you to have a compliance checklist with dynamic, clickable content for both internal and external audits of your manuals.
Comments
Thank you very much Kruschat, Alexander for sharing your experience, knowledge, and great advice!
Love it!
This is an incredible resource, thank you for creating it Kruschat, Alexander!
Thank you for the tips and tricks!
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