The lowest document in the hierarchy of reports is an e-mail note. It is transient. It can be saved, but in the computer world of 2000, its longevity depends on the cycle of the next computer upgrade. [I was given my first
corporate computer in 1985. By decree, my system has been completely changed five times: new computers, new systems. Data from previous sys- tems are gone as are many pieces of software that I liked and needed.]
The incompatibility of computer systems is probably the major disad- vantage of recording work strictly in electronic format. Another disadvan- tage over a hard copy report is that graphics, photographs, and other sup- porting material may not be available in electronic format. This is becoming less and less a problem, but complete electronic distribution may take more time for preparation than hard-copy reports. Depending on the available capabilities, scanning of photos may be very time consuming; in addition, some intended recipients of a report may not have the appropriate software to receive attached files with photographs and other data.
Informal Report
A study was conducted to determine the course of stray arc defects in cutting dies with electrical discharge machining (EDM). Arc spots on the polished die surface render the tools unacceptable for use.
The laboratory study consisted of measuring the electrical conductivity of candi- date dielectrics using ASTM P-143 procedure. Test cuts were made with high- and low-conductivity dielectrics, and it was determined that high purity water signif- icantly reduced the amount of defects compared to the current dielectric, column- deionized water.
The recommendation resulting from this study is to eliminate the ion exchange columns and use triple distilled water as the cutting dielectric.
Summary
This Chapter describes the thought process that authors should use to make a decision on report type. There are pros and cons to each type. Sub- sequent Chapters explain how each type of report contains the same es- sential report ingredients but to different degrees. For example, the purpose and objective in an informal report may be implied, and testing details may be eliminated.
Overall, significant projects warrant a formal technical report. The fol- lowing are some points to keep in mind in selecting a report option: • Patents are for protecting significant ideas for new inventions of use-
ful and unique devices or processes.
• Patents cost significant amounts of money and time.
• Papers in archival journals require in-depth treatment of a subject. • Papers provide worthwhile peer review, but require significant effort
on the part of the author.
• There is a hierarchy in technical documents in most organizations. Writ- ers need to be conscious of this and select the appropriate document level.
• Formal reports include the details necessary for others to continue or reproduce your work.
• The abstract on formal reports, if well done, will serve as the executive summary for managers that are too busy to read reports.
However, sending reports as e-mail attachments is common, and it is a viable alternative to sending hard copies of reports to a distribution list. Thus one can write a formal or informal report and send it as an e-mail at- tachment or just send an e-mail note asking for the same funding as the longer reports:
To: R. Swartch, K. Lee, J. Fargo, R. Primus
From: K. Budinski, Materials Engineering Laboratory Subject: Leaky gel reactor seals
The gel reactor seals in B4L3 are leaking and producing production losses (over 200K for 1997). The Materials Engineering Lab was asked to test other seal mate- rials in the laboratory and to arrive at a seal couple that produced longer life. Laboratory metal-to-metal tests identified six material couples that produced bet- ter wear resistance than the current seal couple. A prototype seal was made with a new material couple, self-mated cemented carbide, but the carbide on the flex- ible seal member cracked during fabrication.
With this memo, we are requesting an additional $40,000 and four months proj- ect time to fabricate and test another new seal configuration.
• Informal laboratory reports are appropriate for minor projects but usu- ally not for significant projects.
• E-mail messages are transient documents and usually are not adequate for documentation of a significant body of work.
Important Terms
• Patent • Technical memorandum
• E-mail • Archival paper
• Not obvious • Executive summary
• Informal report • Laboratory report
• Hierarchy • Formal report
• Useful • Embodiment
• Archive • Editor
• Abstract
For Practice
1. Dissect one of your better ideas on paper and determine its patentabil- ity. Does your idea seem useful and nonobvious?
2. Write an abstract for a paper that you would like to write. Does it have the fundamentals required of a paper?
3. Cite an occasion when an informal report is appropriate—include details. 4. Cite an occasion from your work where a formal report was required. 5. Take an e-mail report that you have received and critique it for appro-
priateness for the situation.
6. Write an e-mail report on a recent project/lab assignment.
7. State five pros and five cons for writing a formal report on a major proj- ect.
8. What is the difference between a formal report and archival paper? 9. State five reasons why a formal report is more important than an in-
formal report.
10. You are a design engineer who just completed building and installing a dial assembly machine. What type of report would be in order? Who would you send it to?
To Dig Deeper
• M. Market, Technical Communication, 5th ed., St. Martin’s Press, New York, 1998
• S.E. Pauley, Technical Report Writing Today, Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston, 1979
• J.E. Sincler and N.H. Vincler, Engineering Your Writing Success, Pro- fessional Publication Inc., Belmont, CA, 1996