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Technical writing agency for regulated industries

28-05-2026 Ferry Vermeulen

Contents

Technical documentation services that cover the full scope
Why companies outsource technical writing
What to expect when you hire a technical writer through INSTRKTIV
Manual writing services for complex products
Technical authoring services built around standards
Industries we serve as a technical documentation company
Working with a user manual agency: common questions
What is a technical writing agency?
How long does it take to produce a user manual?
Can you work with our existing documentation?
Do you write manuals in multiple languages?
How do you ensure compliance with EU and UK regulations?
What are the costs when outsourcing a user manual?
Ready to work with a specialist technical writing agency?

INSTRKTIV is a technical documentation company specialising in user manuals, compliance documentation, and structured authoring for manufacturers in regulated industries. We work with machinery builders, process equipment manufacturers, and system integrators who need documentation that satisfies CE marking requirements, EU Machinery Regulation 2023/1230, and standards including IEC/IEEE 82079-1. Documentation that holds up when it needs to, not just on the day of the audit.

Technical documentation services that cover the full scope

INSTRKTIV produces the full range of technical documentation that regulated product manufacturers need:

  • User manuals and instructions for use
  • Safety instructions
  • Quick-start guides
  • Service and maintenance documentation
  • Online help and knowledge base content

Whether a product requires a printed manual, an HTML-based help system, or a structured document set built for reuse across variants, INSTRKTIV handles the full scope, from first draft to published output.

Why companies outsource technical writing

Most manufacturers reach a point where documentation is no longer manageable internally. The engineering team is writing the manuals because no one else can, which means the people who should be solving technical problems are writing instructions instead.

At INSTRKTIV, we have worked with enough manufacturing companies to know how this plays out. An engineer who understands the product thoroughly will write documentation that is technically accurate but rarely meets the standards required by https://instrktiv.com/en/82079/ or Annex III of the EU Machinery Regulation 2023/1230. The knowledge of the product does not transfer directly into documentation that is structured, safe-use-focused, and legally defensible.

"Most companies don't need a writer. They need someone who understands their product, their regulation, and their user. A generalist can't give you that." 
Ferry Vermeulen, founder INSTRKTIV

The reasons companies outsource documentation to INSTRKTIV fall into three categories:

No in-house expertise. Engineers or product managers write documentation alongside their primary roles, producing content that may pass a visual inspection but not a detailed audit or market surveillance review.

Compliance risk. CE marking documentation that is incomplete or incorrectly structured creates liability exposure. The documentation is the primary evidence that safe use was made possible. If it fails, the CE mark does not protect you.

Wasted time. A documentation bottleneck at the end of a product launch delays shipment. Outsourcing to a specialist removes that bottleneck before it forms.

INSTRKTIV has worked with Van der Waay Machinery for over a decade, handling their documentation across product lines and engineering changes. The relationship persists because the documentation stays current, stays compliant, and requires no internal coordination overhead. See the Van der Waay case study.

Founder Joost van der Waay between the machinery built by Van der Waay Machinery 

What to expect when you hire a technical writer through INSTRKTIV

"Documentation written after the product is finished is always wrong. It should be part of the design process."
Ferry Vermeulen, founder INSTRKTIV

INSTRKTIV follows a five-stage documentation process:

  1. Determine legal requirements. Identify the applicable directives, regulations, and standards for the product and its target markets. This includes CE marking scope, UKCA requirements where relevant, and any sector-specific standards.
  2. Deliver draft documentation. Write to IEC/IEEE 82079-1 and the relevant product standards from the first draft, not as a post-production exercise.
  3. Create visuals and illustrations. Produce technically accurate instructional illustrations, safety graphics, and product overview images.
  4. Determine look and feel and create templates. Establish document templates and, where required, set up a content management system for structured reuse across product variants.
  5. Create output. Deliver the final documentation in the required formats: PDF, HTML, XML, or print-ready files.

Where translation is needed, this becomes Stage 6.

INSTRKTIV operates as a distributed team across the Netherlands and other countries. The team has been building documentation for regulated product manufacturers since 2006.

Manual writing services for complex products

Complex products with multiple variants, evolving engineering changes, and international markets require more than competent writing. They require documentation that is structured to the applicable standards from the start, not patched into compliance after the fact.

"A manual can be fully CE compliant and still be useless to the person trying to operate the machine."
Ferry Vermeulen, founder INSTRKTIV

INSTRKTIV writes user manuals that meet the documentation requirements of:

How to write a user manual is a separate question from whether that manual will hold up under scrutiny. INSTRKTIV addresses both.

Technical authoring services built around standards

Technical authoring is a distinct discipline from technical writing. It refers to documentation produced using structured authoring methods: consistent content models, reusable components, and publishing pipelines that support multiple output formats from a single source.

For manufacturers with large product ranges, frequent engineering changes, or multiple language versions, structured authoring is not optional. It is the only way to manage documentation at scale without accumulating documentation debt: the growing backlog of outdated, inconsistent, and unmanaged content that eventually becomes a compliance liability.

INSTRKTIV uses MadCap Flare as its primary structured authoring tool and works to ISO 20607 for machinery safety documentation. Every engagement can be scoped to include documentation system design, not just writing.

Industries we serve as a technical documentation company

INSTRKTIV has produced documentation for manufacturers in:

  • Packaging machinery
  • Maritime and offshore
  • Food processing and industrial equipment
  • Automotive components and tooling
  • Nuclear (see: lessons from nuclear documentation)
  • Process industry (chemical, energy, recycling)

Clients include Hatenboer, Morssinkhof, Probat, CERN, COVRA, Bosch, Ascential, Marel, Fortna, and Tru-Trac.

For more on the sectors INSTRKTIV serves: Technical documentation for regulated industries

Selected case studies:

Working with a user manual agency: common questions

What is a technical writing agency?

A technical writing agency produces documentation on behalf of product manufacturers. A specialist agency understands the applicable regulations and standards, the product category, and the end users who will rely on the documentation. INSTRKTIV focuses exclusively on regulated industries. 

How long does it take to produce a user manual?

Timescales vary with product complexity and the scope of documentation. A straightforward machine manual for a single product, with existing engineering drawings and a complete risk assessment, typically takes four to eight weeks from briefing to approved first draft. Larger documentation packages, multi-variant products, or projects requiring translation take longer. INSTRKTIV provides a project scope and timeline at the start of each engagement.

Can you work with our existing documentation?

Yes. Many INSTRKTIV projects start with an audit of existing documentation. We identify the gaps against the applicable standard, agree a remediation scope, and produce the revised or supplementary documentation required. Starting from zero is not a prerequisite.

Do you write manuals in multiple languages?

Yes. INSTRKTIV manages translation into all major EU languages and beyond, using a network of sector-specialist translators. Translation is Stage 6 of the INSTRKTIV process.

How do you ensure compliance with EU and UK regulations?

Every INSTRKTIV documentation project begins with a determination of the applicable legal requirements: which directives and regulations apply, which harmonised standards are relevant, and what the documentation must contain. This is not a retrospective check. It defines the scope and structure of the documentation from the first draft.

What are the costs when outsourcing a user manual?

Project costs depend on product complexity, documentation scope, languages required, and whether a documentation system needs to be set up. INSTRKTIV provides a fixed-scope quote after an initial briefing. There are no open-ended hourly retainers for standard documentation projects. See How much does a user manual cost.

Ready to work with a specialist technical writing agency?

If your documentation is being written by engineers who have other jobs to do, or by a generalist agency that does not know IEC/IEEE 82079-1 from the Machinery Regulation, the result will eventually show. The question is whether it shows before or after something goes wrong.

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