Customer instructions are produced by R&D as part of the product development process. They are delivered to Manufacturing as part of the final design package, along with a product description, component specifications, required manufacturing conditions and special processes, and a quality assurance verification procedure. During the production process, Manufacturing reproduces the installation document and packages in with the actual product.

Following completion of the manufacturing and individual product packaging process, completed products are batched and packaged for shipping to distributors and retailers for eventual sale to end customers.

In a memo to the head of Sales, Jack Thompson, manager of the Technical Support Team (a sub-group of Sales), expresses his concerns with the quality, effectiveness, and impacts of documentation coming from R&D. He includes the installation/configuration instructions document for the new BOLD Flash model A23-B flash drive as an example.

As you review the installation instructions document, consider how a customer would utilize it as he or she proceeds to install and use the product. How might a customer respond should he or she encounter problems? Also consider the concerns raised by

Jack, how Technical Support might use the document in preparation for customer requests for support, and how well the team might be able to provide such support based on the documentation they are receiving from R&D.