The SCHEMA Group is a founding member of the iiRDS Consortium

iiRDS as an interface between technical documentation and Industrie 4.0

iiRDS is firmly situated within the context of Industrie 4.0 and the Internet of Things and technical writing must correspondingly develop along with it. With iiRDS, it has found a standard that supports the distribution of documentation in a non-proprietary and content-neutral manner. For example, a technician would certainly appreciate being informed in good time, how and when the maintenance needs to be carried out on a particular module. Or he might also wish to receive the information he requires at the very moment that a fault occurs, so that he can take action in order to get the machine up and running again. Time is money and having to spend a long time flicking through thick files, internal documents or suppliers’ instructions is time-consuming in that situation. The iiRDS scenario is revolutionising this procedure, changing the way it has been carried out up to now: metadata is attached to documentation compiled in the form of modules. The metadata enhances the information by relating it to its context (e.g. machine A, maintenance case 3, lubricant ABC, maintenance interval of 1 week). As iiRDS information is packaged in a non-proprietary format, it can be deployed by means of a content delivery platform on all types of output devices. This means that while carrying out maintenance, a maintenance technician will receive specific, maintenance-related information on his tablet.

In the future, the Content Delivery Server will also operate using iiRDS

From the perspective of the SCHEMA Group, iiRDS will therefore continue to be a topic that will have an effect on the future of the sector. As a result of its membership of the <em>iiRDS Consortium</em>, it is helping to uphold what can be regarded as a symbiotic relationship: on the one hand, the SCHEMA Group has the capability to assist the further development of the standard, including on an international level, whilst on the other hand, by means of its products, it offers everything that is needed to enable the technical integration of iiRDS. In the near future, the SCHEMA Group also intends to introduce iiRDS on its own SCHEMA Content Delivery Server. By doing so, it will be one of the first manufacturers that is not only providing its customers with dependable support as they take their first steps into the new world of documentation, but has formed part of the development of iiRDS right from the beginning.