Case Study
- Case Study
- Reflexion
Lone Writer Increases Productivity and Quality with the XDocs DITA CCMS
About Reflexion
RefleXion Medical, Inc. (“RefleXion”) is on a mission to transform cancer care with its breakthrough SCINTIX biology-guided radiotherapy. Located in Hayward, California, RefleXion makes sophisticated radiotherapy machines and software with accompanying technical documentation. RefleXion is a leading innovator in this technology.
In Brief
Challenge
- A medical devices company with one technical writer needed to create and maintain user documentation that met stringent regulator and quality requirements.
- Key challenge areas in the legacy authoring tool included content reuse, formatting outputs, and managing frequent content updates.
Results
The XDocs DITA CCMS (Component Content Management System) solution enabled RefleXion to
- Efficiently single-source content, produce publications faster with fewer errors, and achieve a consistent look and feel with automated output formatting capabilities.
The Challenge
RefleXion Medical, Inc. (“RefleXion”) is on a mission to transform cancer care with its breakthrough SCINTIX biology-guided radiotherapy. Located in Hayward, California, RefleXion makes sophisticated radiotherapy machines and software with accompanying technical documentation. RefleXion is a leading innovator in this technology.
As a startup with one technical writer, RefleXion needed to create user documentation for both regulatory submission and commercial release.
RefleXion was producing user documentation using a legacy authoring tool and publishing to PDF. Draft PDF documents were reviewed by SMEs in Sharepoint and then distributed on a secure website. RefleXion needed to create and maintain about 20 separate publications including six large user manuals of 300 pages each. The content was heavily reused across various documents and frequently updated as the system evolved, and the same content was being changed in multiple places. Moreover, frequent software crashes resulted in lost work. While significant time was spent formatting documents, there were often still formatting errors at the end.
To produce user documentation efficiently, RefleXion needed a technology and strategy to effectively single-source content with automated, robust PDF output formatting. As a startup, RefleXion needed a solution that was also future-proof to accommodate future requirements for localizing content and for publishing content to HTML, web portals, and embedded help.
Bluestream Database Software Corp. has provided us with a reliable and effective CCMS solution, enhancing our content management capabilities. I highly recommend their services for any organization seeking a top-notch CCMS solution.
Marma Basu,
Senior Manager of Technical Publications,
RefleXion
The Solution
After research and discussion with multiple software vendors, RefleXion chose the DITA standard and Bluestream’s XDocs DITA CCMS.
The XDocs DITA CCMS was the clear choice for several reasons:
- Bluestream agreed to accommodate RefleXion’s unique needs as a small company with a one-person Technical Publications team by offering a cost-effective solution. Other vendors thought the technology would be too complicated for a lone writer.
- The XDocs DITA CCMS fully complied with all parts of the DITA standard, enabling a variety of content reuse strategies. The standards-based XDocs DITA CCMS architecture also meant that if RefleXion chose to change systems in the future, it would be easy to get content out.
- Bluestream offered the ability to scale and extend the solution with growth at RefleXion.
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Bluestream offered a one-stop shop for professional services and support. Bluestream was able to:
o create a DITA information architecture and content strategy that addressed the specific content challenges RefleXion faced in the heavily regulated medical devices industry,
o develop custom PDF output plugins that met the RefleXion marketing team’s stringent brand guidelines regarding fonts, colors, page layout, etc.
o provide DITA, Oxygen, and XDocs DITA CCMS training based on RefleXion’s specific, detailed use cases, and
o provide ongoing, responsive technical support as RefleXion came up to speed on DITA, the XDocs DITA CCMS, and Oxygen.
The Results
RefleXion provides a unique success story: a DITA CCMS implemented for a start-up with a one-person writing team. This success story would not be possible without the commitment and dedication of Reflexion Medical, both from the writer and from the management team. They have shown that a smaller organization in a highly regulated industry with stringent formatting and content reuse requirements can realize huge gains from the introduction of structure, DITA, and XDocs.
Three crucial factors contributed to this success:
- the power of the DITA standard,
- the robust, fully featured combination of the XDocs DITA CCMS and Oxygen authoring software, and
- the meticulous content strategy, information architecture, training, and responsive support provided by the Bluestream team to ensure RefleXion’s success.
RefleXion continues to grow, and the volume and complexity of publications is growing with the company. RefleXion is able to easily single source content among multiple publications and to produce publications faster with far fewer content errors. The application is stable and robust – no crashes. Writing in structure with DITA templates is easier, and the automated output formatting ensures a consistent look and feel with huge time savings.
Bluestream’s XDocs DITA CCMS solution stands out for its robustness and scalability, addressing our evolving needs with ease. Their responsive support and comprehensive training ensured a seamless transition and ongoing efficiency. Bluestream Database Software Corp. has provided us with a reliable and effective CCMS solution, enhancing our content management capabilities. I highly recommend their services for any organization seeking a top-notch CCMS solution.
Marma Basu,
Senior Manager of Technical Publications,
RefleXion
In Brief
Challenge
- A medical devices company with one technical writer needed to create and maintain user documentation that met stringent regulator and quality requirements.
- Key challenge areas in the legacy authoring tool included content reuse, formatting outputs, and managing frequent content updates.
Results
The XDocs DITA CCMS (Component Content Management System) solution enabled RefleXion to
- Efficiently single-source content, produce publications faster with fewer errors, and achieve a consistent look and feel with automated output formatting capabilities.
