From Static Documents to Digital Work Instructions
A Global Equipment Manufacturer's CDS Mentor™ Journey
The Challenge
Before adopting digital work instructions, the global equipment manufacturer relied primarily on Microsoft Word to create and manage assembly procedures. These documents followed a simple format: images on one side, instructions on the other. While effective for simple tasks, the document format became increasingly difficult to maintain as products, configurations, and global operations grew more complex. Other key challenges included:
Formatting and maintenance burden
Inserting or updating images often disrupted pagination, layout, and consistency. Authors spent unnecessary time manually fixing documents rather than improving content.
Limited usability on the shop floor
Operators had to navigate lengthy documents and determine which instructions applied to specific tasks or product variations.
Slow and cumbersome global updates
Engineering teams had to search through documents, make manual edits, and then distribute updates to multiple sites, increasing the risk of outdated procedures.
Manual translation workflows
Supporting global teams for things like translating work instructions required effort from local engineering resources, requiring additional effort and introducing inconsistency.
Limited control over revision compliance
Maintaining current documentation across the factory floor was difficult, particularly in regulated or quality-sensitive environments where outdated procedures could create compliance risks.
Complex product configuration management
Product variations often required operators to interpret which steps applied to a particular build, creating opportunities for error.
THE CUSTOMER
A leading global manufacturer of industrial coding and marking equipment depends on detailed assembly and manufacturing procedures for production, repair, training, and quality assurance across multiple sites worldwide. After initially relying on the desktop-based CDS ProWork application, the company modernized its work instruction strategy by transitioning to CDS Mentor™, the next generation, cloud-based platform from CDS Visual. By consolidating legacy procedures from Microsoft Word and other disconnected formats into a single, cloud environment. The company established a scalable foundation for standardized work instructions, enhanced operator guidance, stronger revision control and consistent deployment across its global manufacturing operations.
THE RESULT
A Standardized, Digitally Managed Manufacturing Environment
The business value is already clear: The platform has helped the global product identification equipment manufacturer move away from fragmented documentation processes and toward a more standardized, digitally managed manufacturing environment.
As adoption expands, CDS Mentor™ is expected to help improve operational consistency, accelerate the rollout of process changes, strengthen quality and compliance controls, and scale knowledge sharing across global sites. By bringing work instructions, training, troubleshooting, and traceability together in a single system, CDS Mentor™ is positioned to become a foundational platform for manufacturing excellence across the business.
