Outsourcing for Technical Documentation 

When outsourcing technical docum­ent­ation to kothes, you can transfer individual tasks, clearly defined sub-areas or your entire docum­ent­ation process. This includes, for example, research, creation and maintenance of documents, terminology management, translation management, quality assurance and publication. Together we will define which resp­ons­ib­ility kothes will assume and which tasks will remain with you. The model can be limited in time or designed as a long-term coll­ab­or­ation. 

How quickly we can begin depends on the required expertise, the scope of the tasks and the current avail­ab­ility of suitable technical writers. Initial support can often start at short notice for clearly defined tasks. For taking over entire docum­ent­ation processes, we first plan handover, resp­ons­ib­il­ities, systems and quality requir­em­ents. After an initial discussion, we will tell you openly what capacity is available at what time and how induction and handover can be organised. 

At the beginning, we record existing docum­ent­ation, product information, processes, systems, templates and resp­ons­ib­il­ities. We capture the knowledge of your experts in structured discussions and document open questions. This gradually creates a reliable knowledge base that we use to produce your technical docum­ent­ation. 

Yes. Our technical writers work with your content management systems, templates, terminology and approval processes. At the start, we clarify access, roles, security requir­em­ents and the necessary onboarding. If no suitable system is available, we can also use one of our in-house systems for creating and managing your technical docum­ent­ation. We will jointly decide which solution fits best from a prof­ess­ional and economic perspective. We address potential areas for improvement openly, but only implement changes in cons­ult­ation with you. 

We clearly define before the start of our cooperation what resp­ons­ib­il­ities kothes will assume. Depending on the model, we handle defined tasks, manage complete docum­ent­ation processes or take over the ongoing operation of your technical writing department. This may include scheduling, quality assurance, resource management, translation coord­in­ation and publication. On request, we also prepare risk assessments and align them with the technical docum­ent­ation. The legal resp­ons­ib­ility for the product and the approval of the underlying technical information remains with you as the manuf­act­urer. 

We tailor the scope of support to your actual needs. Depending on the agreement, we can increase capacities for new projects, product lines, translat­ions or order peaks and reduce them again when demand falls. In doing so, we take into account agreed lead times and the specialist knowledge required. Thanks to our pool of editors, you are not dependent on the avail­ab­ility of a single person. How flexible scaling is in concrete terms is defined transpar­ently in the respective coll­ab­or­ation model.

The costs depend on the scope of the tasks taken on, the number and complexity of the products and the specialist knowledge required. For medium-sized customers for whom we take over docum­ent­ation on a long-term basis, the annual volume is, for example, around 100,000 euros. For large medium-sized companies and corp­or­at­ions whose complete docum­ent­ation processes we are responsible for, it can be in the high six-figure or even seven-figure range.

What matters is not only the overall budget, but also long-term efficiency. For one customer, we structured the docum­ent­ation in such a modular way that individual manuals, which used to cost 30,000 euros or more, can now be created for a few hundred euros. Such unit costs are the result of an information structure optimised over many years and not the entry-level price for a new outsourcing project.

After analysing your initial situation, we show transpar­ently which model makes sense, what ongoing costs arise and which efficiency potentials are realistic.

No. Everything we create on your behalf belongs to you. We document knowledge, processes and resp­ons­ib­il­ities in a transparent way so that your technical docum­ent­ation is not dependent on individual people. You receive the agreed content and source data and can continue them yourself, have them edited by kothes or commission another partner. We also agree terms, handover rules and the conclusion of the coll­ab­or­ation in a transparent manner. You always decide yourself how your technical writing is to be continued. 

No. kothes does not offer contract staffing. We take on clearly defined tasks, projects or complete docum­ent­ation processes as an indep­end­ently organised service. Our employees remain embedded in the structures and prof­ess­ional management of kothes. The coll­ab­or­ation, resp­ons­ib­il­ities and results are clearly agreed in advance. If you are looking exclusively for personnel that is fully integrated into your organ­is­ation and managed by you, our offering is therefore not the right model.