Machine instruction sheet: write the first draft from your documents

Part of the documents on your machine · A first draft to be revisited · Free trial, open access

Submit the documents for your machine: the supplier’s manual, technical specifications, risk analysis, plans. PDF or Word, up to 6 files. The drafting process starts immediately.

This first draft is reviewed. Your design office compares it to the machine, corrects it and completes it: it is you, the manufacturer, who judge its compliance and bear the responsibility for it.

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Machine use notice: why it is written last

The machine is ready to go. Its manual, not yet. Yet, most of what it has to say already exists in your hands: in functional analysis, in risk analysis, in diagrams and nomenclatures.

It still needs to be rewritten for those who will install, operate and maintain the machine. This is the first draft that Optima Doc Creation will write with you.

For whom: design firms and those responsible for technical documentation

You design the machines.

In the design office of a manufacturer, you have the functional analysis and the risk analysis, and the user manual comes at the end of the project, alongside the rest of the documentation.

You write the technical documentation.

As a documentation manager for a manufacturer, you want to start with a first draft that each value is verified, rather than starting from a blank page or from the manual of the previous machine.

You integrate machines.

When several machines are arranged and controlled to work as a whole, the person who assembles them becomes the manufacturer: the entire assembly is their responsibility.

What Optima Doc Creation does not do

It does not certify the compliant product information: it is your review that judges it, and the manufacturer is responsible for it.

It does not replace your risk analysis: it starts from what it contains.

It only knows what you give it: anything that is not in your documents is marked as missing.

He does not write your technical dossier.

What happens to the files you upload?

« Your files are only used for this generation and are not kept. »

Frequently asked questions about the machine instruction manual

Who must provide the instruction manual for a machine?

The manufacturer, before placing the machine on the market. For a set of machines arranged and controlled to function as a whole, it is the manufacturer who assembles them and who provides the instruction manual for the set. The user, on the other hand, relies on the instruction manual to inform and train his operators.

What should a machine manual contain?

The list appears in point 1.7.4.2 of the essential health and safety requirements: Annex I of Directive 2006/42/EC until 19 January 2027, Annex III of Regulation (EU) 2023/1230 from 20 January 2027. We detail it, item by item, in the article « Machine instruction notice: what it must contain».

Directive machines or Regulation 2023/1230: which applies to my notice?

Directive 2006/42/EC applies until the entry into force of Regulation (EU) 2023/1230: it applies from 20 January 2027. It applies to machines placed on the market after that date, not to those already in service.

What is the difference between the instruction manual and the technical documentation?

The manual accompanies the machine: it is intended for those who install, use, and maintain it. The technical documentation remains with the manufacturer: it gathers the elements that demonstrate the machine’s compliance (risk analysis, plans, calculations, test reports, including the manual), and is presented to the authorities upon request. Optima Doc Creation writes the manual, not the technical documentation.

In what language should the instruction manual be written?

Under Directive 2006/42/EC, the notice is provided in the official language(s) of the Member State where the machine is placed on the market or put into service (Annex I, point 1.7.4). Versions verified by the manufacturer or his representative bear the mention «Original notice»; in the absence of an original notice in the language of the country of use, a translation is provided with the mention «Translation of the original notice» (point 1.7.4.1). Regulation (EU) 2023/1230 requires a notice written in a language easily understood by users, determined by the Member State concerned (Article 10, paragraph 7).

Can the notice be provided in digital format?

Yes, under the conditions set out in Regulation (EU) 2023/1230 (Article 10, paragraph 7). The manufacturer then indicates on the machine how to access it, makes it printable and downloadable, and leaves it online for the entire intended lifespan of the machine and for at least ten years. At the request of the user at the time of purchase, it provides the paper version free of charge within one month. And if the machine is intended for non-professional users, or could reasonably be intended for such users, the essential safety information for its commissioning and use remains provided on paper.

Is the produced notice compliant?

Not quite like that. It’s a first draft. Your design office revises it, corrects it, and completes it; compliance is judged by this revision, and the manufacturer bears responsibility for it.