The benefits of e-learning using a multimedia based approach to product assembly and repair, over traditional training and diagnostic methods

Over the past four years, an industrial partnership between an engineering manufacturing company (Thales Optronics, Glasgow, UK) and staff within a university engineering school (Glasgow Caledonian University, Glasgow, UK) has produced research and practical outcomes in the area on multimedia conversion of technical documentation systems. The genesis of this relationship was founded within doctoral work into the crossover of design and media production skills normally associated with multimedia and web based publishing, with the increasing need for engineering companies to address issues arising from the production and use of paper based project documentation / client support. This research dialogue has inevitably required an understanding of the mindset and cultural behaviours within manufacturing industry, and the design processes engineers are taught and apply, as well as the internal organisation of a large scale (global) manufacturing company.