Profile

History

Parts Lists to XML – the evolution of the Piper Group Plc

In just a few years, the Piper Group Plc, based in Bristol, UK, has grown from a small technical documentation subcontractor to a world-class documentation and data management organisation at the leading edge of twenty-first century information technology.

Prime supplier to Airbus

The Piper Group was originally formed in the late 1980s to undertake documentation projects for the UK Ministry of Defence (MOD).  In 1989, it won a contract to supply Airbus UK (then BAE Airbus Ltd) with documentation support for the Airbus A300/310 program.

Traditional authoring and illustration were soon complemented by translation and desktop publishing activities, as the group became one of the UK’s leading aerospace and defence documentation companies.  In 1995, the award of prime supplier status with BAE Airbus Ltd brought responsibility for all Airbus technical documentation sub-contract work.

Software development contracts

The mid-1990s saw the expansion of the Piper Group’s high technology products, initially with SGML authoring and publishing tools for aerospace and defence industry standards.  With the subsequent emergence of standards for SGML/digital data delivery, the company quickly secured software development contracts with both new and existing customers, offering a comprehensive range of solutions across all aspects of data production and delivery for traditional and electronic media.

The potential of XML

During the last five years, strategic partnerships with leading software manufacturers have generated exciting results and led to further opportunities for Piper Group products.  Seeing the potential for extensible markup language (XML) applications, particularly interactive electronic technical publications (IETPs), the Piper Group worked in close partnership with BAE SYSTEMS to develop the unique trilogiView browser for IETPs.

A holistic approach to documentation and data management
 
The Piper Group now finds itself ideally placed to offer a truly integrated holistic approach to documentation and data-management solutions.  Whether a client’s requirement is for a single manual or tailored software application, comprehensive documentation consultancy or the complete outsourcing of an existing documentation department, the Piper Group has the proven capability to deliver.