Project 1 Sample John Gority

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Pennsylvania State University, World Campus *

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100C

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Mechanical Engineering

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Dec 6, 2023

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docx

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To: Ms. Priscilla Sneff From: John Gority Subject: Rhetorical Analysis of General Electric’s “Heavy-Duty Gas Turbine Operating and Maintenance Considerations” manual Date : 01/28/2022 The purpose of this memo is to analyze the use of technical communication in the manual “Heavy-Duty Gas Turbine Operating and Maintenance Considerations” for General Electric’s industrial gas turbine, model GER-3620. My analysis of this document is based on the six characteristics of a successful technical document, written by Mike Markel and Stuart Selber: addresses specific readers, helps readers solve problems, reflects the company’s goals and cultures, is produced collaboratively, and uses design to increase readability, and consists of words or images or both. Summary General Electric’s “Heavy-Duty Gas Turbine Operating and Maintenance Considerations” manual exemplifies Mike Markel’s and Stuart Selber’s six characteristics of technical writing. The document provides English speaking professional engineers with maintenance plans and operational solutions for the GER-3620 model gas turbine. As addressed in the “Introduction” section, these maintenance and operating suggestions are provided to increase plant efficiency while reducing the possibility of unexpected maintenance issues. The goals of General Electric are shown by providing customers with common maintenance factors, and ways to fix them. They put the customer first by finding methods that ultimately result in more money in the owner’s pockets. Numerous collaborators provided information for this document as well. The manual increases readability by using evident headings, a table of contents, multiple bulleted lists, and detailed figures throughout the text. Text with figures is used throughout the document to increase the readers understanding as well. Discussion Addresses Specific Readers Overall, the manual successfully communicates operational suggestions and maintenance conditions to English speaking professional engineers and gas turbine owners. The targeted audience is searching for operational solutions to the GER-3620 model Heavy-Duty Gas Turbine, produced by General Electric. This example of effective communication between manufacturer and engineer is addressed throughout the manual, specifically in the “Introduction” section (p.1), throughout the “Maintenance Planning” section (p. 1-2), and in specific subsections within the “Major Factors Influencing Maintenance and Equipment Life” section (p. 5-20). For example, in the “Introduction” section (p.1), General Electric targets gas turbine owners by saying “For this maintenance program to be effective, owners should develop a general understanding of [operational factors] (p. 1).” General Electric effectively addresses the gas turbine owner, stating they need to understand the operational factors that affect maintenance issues to successfully create a maintenance plan. This document is highly technical, as the engineers reading the document require an advanced knowledge of gas turbine technology to understand the operational suggestions. A person with no knowledge of gas turbine technology would not be reading this document, so the way General Electric delivers this information is appropriate for their intended audience. Helps Readers Solve Problems This manual was created with the ultimate mission being to provide engineers with proper solutions to operating and maintenance issues for the GER-3620 model Heavy-Duty Gas Turbine. General Electric provides engineers with solutions to specific maintenance and operational issues by providing key maintenance factors (figure 1), maintenance requirements (p. 1), and digital solutions to detect and

prevent plant outages (p. 3). In figure 1 (p. 2), all factors affecting maintenance planning are presented in a manner that allows the gas turbine owner to determine the significance of each factor based on their own situation. General Electric introduces engineers to the preferred maintenance requirements by listing the basic gas turbine maintenance practices in a bulleted list (p. 1). General Electric provides digital solutions that “enable strategic plant operation by providing insights related to equipment operation, improved outage planning, and more continuous operation in line with industry demand (p. 3).” If a General Electric gas turbine is not running efficiently, the manual provides supplies the engineer with trustworthy solutions. Reflects the Organizations Goals and Culture In the “Introduction” section (p.1) of the manual, General Electric shows they understand their customers needs for a reliable turbine by stating “a maintenance plan that reduces the [gas turbine] owner’s costs while increasing equipment availability should be instituted (p. 1).” The company shows that their interest lies within the customer by providing maintenance and operational plans that ultimately puts more money into the owner’s pockets. Direct statements made by General Electric about their goals and culture are not found within the document. However, the company proves they are trying to help their customers by supplying owners an extensive amount of information. General Electric leaves the customer with a source of contact if they have any questions by saying “through application of a Contractual Service Agreement to a particular turbine, GE can work with a user to establish a maintenance program (p. 39).” Allowing the gas turbine owner to develop a personalized maintenance program shows that General Electric is willing to spend time helping their consumers. Is Produced Collaboratively The document contains multiple examples that show the document was produced collaboratively. The cover page of the document states that General Electric was the organization responsible, and names of the main collaborators were provided. A company itself requires collaboration to provide engineers the proper maintenance and operational information. Acknowledgements were made to collaborators on page fifty-eight as well, showing that multiple people put a lot of effort into the detailed development of this document. The technical information was gathered from multiple different sources as well. A graphic designer was most likely responsible for creating the layout of the document. Uses Design to Increase Readability The design of the document has its limitations, but there are characteristics that increase the readability of the document. At times, the two columns of text can reduce the readability of the document, as it can be hard for engineers to pinpoint specific information. The font is rather small as well, limiting some readers. On the positive side, the document utilizes headings, a table of contents, multiple bulleted lists, and detailed figures to increase the reader’s comprehension of the document. The headings change in size and color throughout the document to separate sections (large, dark blue font) from subsections (small, light blue font). A contents section (p. i-ii) is provided allowing engineers easy access to specific maintenance and operational solutions. Bulleted lists are used throughout the document to emphasize important considerations the engineer may want to adhere to. For example, the recommended maintenance steps for the gas turbine are listed as bullet points in the “Maintenance Planning” section (p. 1). Detailed figures with descriptions are referenced throughout the document, placing emphasis on important maintenance factors.

Consists of Words or Images or Both Blocks of text with references to figures increases the customers understanding of the maintenance and operational suggestions as they read the document. For example, in the “Maintenance Planning” section, each key factor affecting maintenance planning is provided in figure 1 (p. 2), allowing the reader to pinpoint which factor may be negatively affecting their gas turbine. Then, using the table of contents (p. i-ii), readers can immediately gain solutions to the specific factor that is influencing the operation of the gas turbine. Technical graphs can be understood by readers due to in-depth titles, axis, legends, colors, and figure descriptions (p. 6).

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