Plugin Development
Technical writers' productivity is often overlooked when measuring key performance indicators. Improving writer's productivity can to some extent be achieved with things like product training, template optimization, and content management. Often, however, writers need to perform the same repetitive tasks time after time. Automating these tasks with plugins and scripts can dramatically improve productivity while the cost of creating the plugin can be offset by a rapid return on investment (ROI).
As an example, consider a team of 10 technical writers who perform a repetitive task taking just 6 minutes every working day. A time and motion study reveals that this task could be eliminated completely by developing a custom plugin. The economics are:
0.1 hrs * 10 writers * 220 working days = 220 man hours
Annual cost in lost productivity (assuming a billing rate of $50/hour) : $11,000
Cost of developing a plugin: $2,500
Return On Investment in just 12 weeks approx.
Electropubs specialize in plugins for the following authoring tools:
- Adobe FrameMaker
- OXygenXML
Some examples of ready-to-use plugins are available on the Downloads page.
Please don't hesitate to contact us with your ideas for plugins. We can then provide a cost estimate that you can use internally to justify the investment.
