Tools have become essential for manual creation, as the increasing sophistication of products and services leads to longer and more complex manuals.

“In recent years, the era of “make it and sell it,” including industrial products, has shifted to individual customer orientation. As competition between companies intensifies, the products and services offered are becoming more diverse, while the lead time for delivery is also being shortened. As the use of computers has become commonplace, all products and services are becoming more electronic and more sophisticated every day, the performance of products and services has improved, but the damage caused by operational errors also tends to increase.
Therefore, the creation of manuals for work processes and operational procedures has advanced dramatically. The primary goal is not only to ensure operations can be performed correctly and to maintain a high level of consistency and reproducibility in operations but also to serve as a risk mitigation tool.
As a result, the number of pages in manuals continues to increase, and with each revision, as the content expands, more pages are added progressively.In such circumstances, proceeding with traditional manual creation styles and workflows represented by MS WORD may be efficient, but it inherently includes the following challenges.”

• Knowledge is dependent on specific individuals, so the quality of revisions declines due to retirements or resignations.
• Due to manpower shortages, the lead time for manual creation becomes prolonged.
• Manual creators accustomed to paper-based formats find it difficult to adapt to digital formats such as web manuals.

These challenges become more pronounced as the volume of manuals increases and as the frequency of revisions rises due to shorter product and service life cycles, making efficient manual creation tools indispensable.

The need for multilingual manuals increases as the distribution regions of products and services expand.

“With the trend of globalization, there are increasing situations where products and services are being used in various countries. In such cases, for example, in emerging countries like Cambodia or remote islands in Indonesia, even if heavy machinery comes with an English manual, it may be difficult for local operators to read and operate it based on that manual. Furthermore, as product functionality improves, there is a growing need to avoid operational errors, which means that providing manuals only in English may not be sufficient. In reality, the workers handling the equipment may not understand the content, making it essential to prepare manuals in the local languages
When localizing manuals into multiple languages, the first edition typically requires full translation of all content, which can incur significant costs if outsourced to a translation agency. Additionally, as products and services are updated, translation costs rise in proportion to the number of supported languages. Since managing multilingual manual content requires keeping track of revisions in each language, it can become extremely complex. Centralizing content through a system like a CMS not only enables more efficient management, but also helps prevent errors..”

Rapid distribution of manuals — despite progress in digitization and video formats, there remains a need for paper-based manuals in certain cases.

“A major trend in the delivery format of operation and business manuals, combined with the spread of telework, is a significant shift from printed paper-based manuals to electronic manuals and video manuals. This shift is especially pronounced as manuals tend to grow in length due to the increasing sophistication of products and services.
However, in cases where operations must be performed in environments where electronic devices cannot be used, or when business agreements require the delivery of paper manuals, distribution in the traditional paper format remains necessary. There are also situations where having a paper manual on hand is beneficial—for example, during complaint handling, when it becomes necessary to quickly produce a physical manual as tangible proof. Considering these scenarios, even as digitization and video manuals advance, maintaining the ability to output manuals in paper format should be regarded as an important risk mitigation measure.”

“PMX, a tool that enables the division of labor in manual production, supports multilingual content, digitalization, and fast delivery. It can be operated entirely through a web browser. The system has been fully designed and developed by CyberTech, including its core components, ensuring consistency and offering a simple and user-friendly interface. Its simplicity and ease of use also make it highly compatible with remote work environments.
This is an innovative cloud service that enables centralized management of instruction manuals, business manuals, and other documents requiring structured formatting—achieving “unification”, “standardization”, “normalization”, “consistency”, and “structured organization” of manual content.

Various templates to support the standardization of manual creation.

“When it comes to operation manuals (user guides) for industrial machinery, machine tools, and heavy equipment, functionality tends to be prioritized over design. To achieve this level of functionality, it is essential that manual creation is standardized from the outset. However, when creating manuals using tools like DTP software, FrameMaker, or MS Word, it can be difficult to maintain consistent standards, often leading to deviations.
To promote standardization in manual creation, our company strongly recommends a template-based documentation approach. Our system, PMX, offers a wide variety of templates. Whether you’re lacking templates altogether, working with outdated ones, or in need of modern templates that support both e-manual (digital manual) and PDF outputs, PMX provides versatile solutions. We also offer templates capable of outputting both single-column and two-column layouts from a single source—catering to various industries and applications.”

PMX — suitable for everyone, from first-time manual creators to documentation professionals.

PMX is a tool that enables division of labor in manual production, supports multilingual content, and facilitates both typesetting and digital publishing for multi-use purposes. It is designed for a wide range of users—from those who have never created manuals before to professionals who understand style sheets and markup languages at the source level.

To focus purely on writing without handling the technical details.

With the manual creation tool PMX, you don’t need to know anything about tags like XML, DITA, or HTML. By simply using the provided templates and submitting your content through a Word-like web editor, your manual will be completed. No specialized knowledge is required, allowing you to focus entirely on writing.

To directly edit and experiment with source code.

With the manual creation tool PMX, you can customize layouts and styles by modifying the stylesheets, allowing for flexible free-form editing. Additionally, the editor features a source editing mode, where you can write markup-level information using tags. This enables more detailed authoring in conjunction with the stylesheets.

Additional Features of the PMX Manual CMS – Multilingual Content Support, Typesetting Automation, and Digital Publishing.

Easy-to-use interface at a budget-friendly price!

Manual creation systems that support collaborative editing and centralized management of content—including revision details and history—are typically foreign-made and often priced in the high hundreds of thousands to tens of millions of yen. PMX, however, is a subscription-based tool that offers a user-friendly interface at a significantly lower cost by being fully developed in-house, including its core infrastructure.

Powerful system available as a cloud service!

Based on our many years of expertise in the XML field, we provide a high-level manual creation tool that supports collaborative multilingual content development, automated typesetting, and hybrid distribution of both printed and digital manuals. Provided as a cloud service, the system is fully operated by CyberTech—eliminating the need for users to handle complex security measures or system maintenance.

Reliable support is a given. Able to handle diverse requirements!

While many software products are foreign-made, CyberTech, a fully domestic vendor, handles not only product development and version updates but also provides comprehensive support. Making use of our unique expertise with XML since its early days, we provide support tailored specifically to our domestic customers and continuously incorporate customer-focused features into our tools. Additionally, we offer customization options through individual implementations.

The tool PMX, which enables the division of manual production tasks, supports multilingual content, and achieves typesetting and digital publishing through multi-use, is available as a cloud service. This allows multiple contributors to collaboratively work on manuals simultaneously, and modularized content makes it easier to handle multilingual support. Additionally, since manual content is centralized in a database, once content is finalized, it can be automatically typeset and output as web manuals (HTML manuals) according to predefined templates. Unlike a linear production flow—where web manuals are created only after completing DTP and other upstream processes—PMX shortens the lead time from content finalization to actual distribution.

Decentralization and collaborative production

Web-based submission, no specialized skills needed

Version control

Multilingual manual support

Faster delivery turnaround

Multi-purpose

Electronic manual support

DX and video support

Divide manual production tasks efficiently with role-based permissions and workflows—perfectly suited for remote work!

When creating manuals, it’s necessary to gather source information from engineers who develop the products or services; however, engineers are not specialists in manual writing. The manual creation tool PMX streamlines this process by allowing engineers to first provide raw information as writers. After the editorial team revises the manual, engineers can perform fact-checking and make minor corrections before finalizing the version. Thanks to PMX’s account permission settings and workflow features, this entire process runs smoothly, enabling efficient collaboration in manual writing.
Additionally, PMX is not designed to achieve functionality by integrating with other systems or services; instead, it is a tool fully designed and developed in-house, including middleware and foundational components. This approach enables a user interface that is simple, well-optimized, and free from unnecessary complexity. With the rise of telework, there is an increasing demand for straightforward operation, and PMX meets this need by allowing all documentation tasks to be completed entirely online.

Multilingual manual creation—modularize shared content and leverage AI translation to cut costs without compromising quality!

In the manual creation process, it is common to reuse past manuals of similar products or services. The manual creation tool PMX modularizes all past manuals while maintaining linked multilingual content, allowing natural reuse during the initial edition creation. Both source language and translated text can be reused, so overlapping content can be modularized as common components, which contributes to improving manual quality. Additionally, the tool can narrow down translation needs to only rewritten or revised sections, significantly reducing translation costs.
The manual creation tool PMX can integrate with computer-assisted translation (CAT) tools such as Trados, Phrase (formerly Memsource), and memoQ. By utilizing machine translation services like Google Translate or DeepL for simple post-revision translations, you can manage multilingual manual updates quickly and cost-effectively.

Faster manual delivery—once content is finalized, it’s automatically formatted into electronic manuals and PDFs according to templates, enabling multi-media distribution!

The manual creation tool PMX centrally manages manual content using a robust XML-based database. This allows not only electronic manuals but also automatically typeset PDFs for print output, where applying style sheets enables a variety of output layouts. Electronic manuals are output in HTML format with responsive design, making them easy to view on smartphones and tablets.
Operation manuals used in stores and internal business manuals are often more effective when accompanied by video explanations. The manual creation tool PMX allows videos to be incorporated as materials in e-manuals (electronic manuals), making it ideal for multimedia operation manuals that require quick understanding on the spot.
The cloud service PMX, which enables collaborative manual creation, multilingual content support, automated typesetting, and digitization, offers the following benefits to both user companies and production agencies.

The process for using PMX, a cloud service that enables collaborative manual creation, multilingual content support, digitization, and typesetting, is as follows.

1. Inquiry and Content Confirmation
   We will ask about your current manual creation process, any challenges you face, and examples of actual deliverables. Since your intended usage period often closely relates to the release schedule of your products or services, we will also inquire about your rough timeline and budget.
   Based on your schedule and budget, there may be cases where PMX is not the best fit. In such situations, we may propose alternative solutions, such as handling the operation entirely on your behalf or providing a one-stop service through our company-operated offshore centers.
2. Overview of PMX and Explanation of the “PMX Free Trial Program
   We will provide an initial briefing that includes a demonstration covering the basic concepts and features of the product. If you are interested, we will also explain the separately offered “PMX Free Trial Program.
   If your intended trial scope or scale exceeds the range of the free trial program, we may propose a paid Proof of Concept (PoC) project. Please feel free to request a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) at any time if needed.
3. Start of PMX Trial Program and PoC (Proof of Concept) Optional for Interested Parties
   If you agree to the specified terms, you can start the “PMX Free Trial Program.” While PMX is a feature-rich tool, it also offers a simple user interface, making it easy to evaluate through the trial program.
   For a Proof of Concept (PoC), our engineers can actually input several pieces of content into PMX, perform fine-tuning, and adjust output results by developing or modifying style sheets as needed.
4. Structured Manual Design (Optional)
   If the manuals you plan to use with PMX are not yet optimized, we can offer structured design services for an additional fee. By reviewing your current manuals or discussing your planned structure, we can provide manual consulting and create tailored manual production guidelines.
5. Subscription Agreement
   After the trial or PoC, if you decide to adopt PMX, we’ll move on to the subscription stage.. PMX offers a wide range of optional features, allowing you to select only what you need to support your actual manual production workflows.
   As a domestic vendor, CyberTech will continue to provide responsive and customer-focused support even after the contract is in place.
   The manual creation system “PMX” offers a free trial program that includes frequently used options, allowing you to quickly experience its capabilities. For detailed information and procedures, our sales representative will contact you separately. Please apply using the form below.
   Get Your PMX Free Trial

We have compiled frequently asked questions about our cloud service “PMX,” which enables collaborative manual creation, multilingual content support, typesetting, and digital publishing.

Is it possible to try out the manual creation tool ‘PMX’?

The manual creation tool “PMX” is offered as a cloud service, so you can start trying it out immediately. Specifically, we provide a 2-week PMX trial program that allows you to test the tool according to our prescribed guidelines. If you need to extend the trial period, we also offer an extension option within the PMX trial program—please feel free to let us know your request.

Can I start with a small plan and upgrade later as needed?

With the manual creation tool “PMX,” you can start small with our Light Plan and gradually expand by increasing the number of manuals or users. Even during your contract period, you can easily upgrade to the Standard or Advanced Plan by paying the difference.

Is it possible to start by using the basic features of the manual creation tool “PMX” first, and then add optional services later?

Yes! As long as you’re within your contract period, you can add optional services anytime by paying the corresponding fees. You can also increase the number of users during your contract whenever needed.

Is it possible to utilize existing manual content with PMX?

Absolutely! We can review your existing manuals and recommend the best way to import them based on their layout and data format. PMX offers built-in import options for MS Word and Adobe FrameMaker files. For other formats, our engineers can often handle batch imports. Please feel free to contact us to discuss your specific needs.

Are the security measures sufficient?

In addition to basic security measures, the manual creation tool “PMX” operates on the highly reliable AWS (Amazon Web Services) platform. Furthermore, access from customers is restricted to connections from designated global IP addresses only. While this may cause some inconvenience, it ensures a high level of security is maintained.

Is it possible to develop stylesheets and templates as well?

Yes, it is possible. As a company with over 20 years of experience working with markup languages such as XML, we are able to provide optimal stylesheets and templates tailored to your output media and layout needs at a reasonable cost.