Arbortext: Accelerate Technical Communication
Arbortext accelerates and scales the way organizations create, manage, and deliver technical content from engineering to the field.
What is Arbortext?
Arbortext is a family of integrated products that help organizations repurpose engineering data for technical communication across manufacturing, service, sales, and other key stakeholder groups. The full suite of products equips technical publications teams with the tools to rapidly create and manage XML text and visual content, manage content inside Windchill, and publish finished content in any media for any audience.
Why Arbortext?
The world’s most sophisticated organizations across industrial equipment manufacturers, automakers, federal, aerospace and defense projects, and electronics and high-tech companies use Arbortext to:
- Create and maintain technical documentation and parts catalogs.
- Deliver technical content to stakeholders in the right context.
The Arbortext difference:
- Designed for technical publications standards such as DITA and S-Series.
- Writers don’t have to be XML experts to adhere to form and scheme, allowing for easier SME contribution.
- Illustrations and metadata can be pulled directly from CAD stored in Windchill, allowing content to have a direct link to product information.
- Managing content components in Windchill allows for more efficient change management and automation.
- Content delivery is contextualized to the product and the end user.
Elevating how product development gets done
No matter what role you play in the product lifecycle, Windchill can help you quickly see value. Average results our customers experience include:
Arbortext benefits across the value chain
By integrating into Windchill, content created using Arbortext can be linked to CAD files, BOMs, and other engineering design data, allowing content to be automatically updated based on changes in product design.
As a result, companies using Arbortext increase authoring productivity, lower publication costs, and guarantee high-quality outcomes in service, manufacturing, and other areas downstream from engineering.
Technical publications
Arbortext provides a full solution for technical publications teams to efficiently create, manage, and publish structured textual and illustrated content. Its advanced authoring tools support XML and SGML, ensuring content is standards-compliant, reusable, and easily adaptable across multiple formats. Illustration tools transform CAD files into editable illustration formats. With an integration to Windchill for product-based content management, version control, and workflow automation, teams can collaborate more effectively and reduce the time spent on manual tasks, resulting in faster delivery times, improved content accuracy, and consistent output.
Field and depot service
Service teams rely on accurate, up-to-date documentation and parts catalogs to perform maintenance, execute repairs, and order parts effectively. Arbortext enhances service operations by delivering up-to-date, multimedia technical content, including manuals, drawings, 3D graphics, and more, that improve comprehension and confidence. As a result, service organizations improve KPIs such as first-time fix rates, mean times to repair, fewer incorrectly ordered parts, and shorter asset downtime.
Product development and product engineering
With Arbortext and Windchill working together, engineers can focus on their core initiative of bringing innovative products to market without worrying about required technical documentation. Since technical publications teams can work from the same PLM system as engineering, they are automatically notified of changes to the product that must be reflected in technical content. Faster documentation cycles also mean engineers receive timely feedback and support materials, improving cross-functional communication, and accelerating product development timelines.
Manufacturing and assembly
Arbortext transforms CAD files and existing XML content into essential manufacturing content such as assembly instructions, work instructions, and maintenance manuals. Its dynamic capabilities allow generation of product-specific content, tailored to different configurations or end user needs. This ensures that production teams always have access to the most relevant and accurate information. Arbortext also supports multilingual content, helping global manufacturers reduce translation errors and maintain consistency across regions, ultimately improving operational efficiency and product quality.
Sales and marketing
Sales and marketing teams benefit from Arbortext for creating engaging, accurate product literature such as brochures, data sheets, and catalogs. The platform’s advanced publishing tools support visually rich, personalized content tailored to specific customer segments or markets. Arbortext ensures that all materials are consistent with the latest product data and branding and can be updated and distributed quickly.
Technical publications
Arbortext provides a full solution for technical publications teams to efficiently create, manage, and publish structured textual and illustrated content. Its advanced authoring tools support XML and SGML, ensuring content is standards-compliant, reusable, and easily adaptable across multiple formats. Illustration tools transform CAD files into editable illustration formats. With an integration to Windchill for product-based content management, version control, and workflow automation, teams can collaborate more effectively and reduce the time spent on manual tasks, resulting in faster delivery times, improved content accuracy, and consistent output.
Field and depot service
Service teams rely on accurate, up-to-date documentation and parts catalogs to perform maintenance, execute repairs, and order parts effectively. Arbortext enhances service operations by delivering up-to-date, multimedia technical content, including manuals, drawings, 3D graphics, and more, that improve comprehension and confidence. As a result, service organizations improve KPIs such as first-time fix rates, mean times to repair, fewer incorrectly ordered parts, and shorter asset downtime.
Product development and product engineering
With Arbortext and Windchill working together, engineers can focus on their core initiative of bringing innovative products to market without worrying about required technical documentation. Since technical publications teams can work from the same PLM system as engineering, they are automatically notified of changes to the product that must be reflected in technical content. Faster documentation cycles also mean engineers receive timely feedback and support materials, improving cross-functional communication, and accelerating product development timelines.
Manufacturing and assembly
Arbortext transforms CAD files and existing XML content into essential manufacturing content such as assembly instructions, work instructions, and maintenance manuals. Its dynamic capabilities allow generation of product-specific content, tailored to different configurations or end user needs. This ensures that production teams always have access to the most relevant and accurate information. Arbortext also supports multilingual content, helping global manufacturers reduce translation errors and maintain consistency across regions, ultimately improving operational efficiency and product quality.
Sales and marketing
Sales and marketing teams benefit from Arbortext for creating engaging, accurate product literature such as brochures, data sheets, and catalogs. The platform’s advanced publishing tools support visually rich, personalized content tailored to specific customer segments or markets. Arbortext ensures that all materials are consistent with the latest product data and branding and can be updated and distributed quickly.
Key features of Arbortext
Robust XML authoring
Create structured, standards-compliant content with powerful XML editing tools for consistent, reusable documentation.
Compliance and standards-ready
Excel in topic-based authoring with DITA, and large-scale aerospace and defense projects with S1000D.
Style sheet creation
Design and manage stylesheets to control the look and feel of published content across multiple formats.
Advanced layout development
Build complex, professional layouts for print and digital outputs with precise control over formatting and structure.
CAD-based 3D illustration
Integrate 3D CAD models directly into documentation for interactive, visual-rich technical content.
2D technical drawing
Incorporate detailed 2D illustrations to enhance clarity and accuracy in technical documents
Component-based content management
Manage content as modular components for easy reuse, updates, and consistency across documents.
Multiformat publishing
Publish content in multiple formats—PDF, HTML, mobile, and more—from a single source.
Service bill of materials
Link service documentation to product configurations using accurate, up-to-date service BOMs.
Customer success with Arbortext?
Learn now these companies are using Arbortext to improve productivity and product information delivery.
Design for serviceability: Improving technician effectiveness and service performance at Kirloskar Oil Engines Limited
KOEL improved productivity and reduced requests for cancellations of late-stage engineering changes from 10% to 2% by using PTC solutions to complete a BOM transformation.
Toro uses Creo Illustrate to increase illustrator efficiency, end-user comprehension
The U.S. Navy is undergoing digital transformation to unify legacy systems and support their massive base of users, suppliers, and ships by using Windchill’s cloud infrastructure, collaboration capabilities, and comprehensive SaaS workflows.
Ronchi provides outstanding customer service through an end-to-end digital transformation featuring the Arbortext content delivery system.
