Maintenance or operating instructions can be written in Microsoft Word, but content management becomes problematic even with standard requirements. It is worthwhile to structure the content if two of the four requirements are met:
1. Several language versions of the document are required
2. The same content is repeated several times, e.g. the warranty conditions
3. Multiple publication formats required (PDF, Word, or HTML)
4. There are variations on the service or product, eg the machine X can be made with or without a functionality Y.

When an organization has decided to use structured documentation, it is often necessary to convert the current material into a structured form. Several tools are used for this, for example, the Word2Dita tool can be used to bring Word documents into a structured format. It automatically converts a Word document into a structured format. Word2Dita is part of the Indox cloud service tools.

In order to function as well as possible, the tool requires consistency in the styling of the documents, i.e. titles are used in the same way. The conversion of the material into a structured format can also be done manually by cutting and pasting the text directly into the XML editor. Author then needs to complete the structure.

Once the material has been put into a structured form, its many advantages can be utilized, which you can read more about here.