CASE STUDY: Faster and better document comparison at SunExpress

Author: Mehmet Dinç, Documentation Specialist, SunExpress

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Mehmet Dinç, Documentation Specialist at SunExpress shares the implementation of a modern document comparison system; the reasons for it, how it went and what results were gained

Documentation is a key matter for modern airlines but as the number and size of documents increases, along with their growing complexity, so do the numbers of changes that are made in their content. This case study is about how SunExpress found and implemented a solution to identify changes in documents. Before I share that journey with you, I’ll introduce you to SunExpress.

SunExpress

Established in 1989 as a joint venture of Turkish Airlines and Lufthansa, SunExpress has acted as a tourism ambassador between Türkiye and Europe, building 35 years of leisure airline expertise. We fly on 200 routes to 35 countries and carry more than 12 million passengers every year. With its headquarters in Antalya and Frankfurt and bases in Izmir and Ankara, SunExpress has more than 4000 employees. With 24 aircraft in the fleet in 2024. SunExpress was named the ‘Best Leisure Airline in Europe’ in the latest global survey by Skytrax.

THE CHALLENGES BEFORE THIS PROGRAM

In highly regulated industries like aviation, ensuring the accuracy of detailed procedures and specifications, and efficiently communicating content updates to all relevant departments is crucial. Any errors can lead to severe safety risks. Furthermore, documents in aviation are often huge, containing many topics and complex technical information. When processing these files, SunExpress found that Word editors were insufficient for the job.

Although MS Word is one of the most popular text writing platforms used today, when it comes to handling large, complex technical documentation, it often struggles, causing formatting inconsistencies, performance slowdowns and risks of data loss. With over 800 documents reviewed every year, speed and efficiency became of utmost importance. This led to the decision to move from MS Word to DITA (Darwin Information Typing Architecture), and XML-based standard.

After the migration to DITA, SunExpress started using DITA conversion tools to create HTML and PDF outputs of their aviation documents, however these documents did not highlight the revised content, making it difficult for authorities and users to find where the technical information had been updated. We were unable to produce user-friendly redline reports. In fact, users would often have to read the entire document to find out what section or content had changed. This drove the need to find a solution that would accurately compare DITA content and produce an easy-to-understand, user-friendly report, which could be distributed both to regulatory bodies, as well as the SunExpress crew.

THE SOLUTION

To improve our document revision management and produce more reliable, user-friendly change reports, SunExpress realized that a content comparison technology was needed for our regulatory documents. After searching the internet for suitable options, we decided that DeltaXML’s DITA comparison software was most suitable. We found that DeltaXML’s solution was superior to others on the market, especially in DITA comparison technology, and the product features met our needs.

The business case for implementing DITA Compare

Our primary reason for implementing DITA Compare was to leverage the efficient change management that the DeltaXML solution provides. With multiple authors contributing to documents, it became challenging to track all the changes accurately, and DeltaXML helped streamline that process. After learning about DeltaXML, we did not need to do much competitor research.

DITA Compare is based on Darwin Information Typing Architecture, a specification which defines a set of document types for authoring and organizing topic-oriented information, as well as a set of mechanisms for combining, extending, and constraining document types. The base standards are XML and HTML.

DITA Compare

Offering unparalleled accuracy, DeltaXML’s DITA comparison solution provides the most reliable method for identifying and publishing changes between two versions of DITA documents. It delivers results that can be easily marked up for processing as redline documents or integrated with popular editing software. The parameter options in DeltaXML’s solution allowed SunExpress to get more flexible results during document comparison. The software could be configured to meet SunExpress specific business requirements and was easily embedded into our existing systems and processes. DeltaXML’s self-hosted REST API provides a seamless integration option for any workflow, CCMS, or DMS.

SunExpress also found the flexible configuration especially useful, particularly the ability to exclude elements that we did not want from the comparison. DITA Compare’s configuration ability is one of its most powerful features. Users can choose to ignore certain elements, find changes within referenced images, and even compare CALS and HTML tables. In this case, SunExpress found that the results obtained in table comparisons provided effective reading for the end users.

All implementation work for DeltaXML was handled in-house by the Documentation Center Department at SunExpress.

IMPLEMENTATION CHALLENGES AND OBSTACLES

The challenges we faced during the implementation of this documentation project can be broken down into two categories.

First were the technical challenges. Before adopting DeltaXML, our company used Adobe FrameMaker for document editing, meaning our documents were in FrameMaker files rather than XML. The first technical challenge was converting these files into the DITA XML format. Because older content may not follow strict DITA standards, leading to inaccuracies during comparisons. The second technical challenge was integrating a web editor into our content management system. We needed a reliable comparison solution to track the changes made in the XML files that our editors worked on using the web editor. Lastly, we needed an additional tool to publish the documents with the changes marked up by the DeltaXML comparison solution.

Then there were the operational challenges. We had to adjust our workflows to incorporate a comparison model and that required some restructuring. Additionally, since we were transitioning to a web editor, there was some initial resistance to change from our users.

THE IMPLEMENTATION

The Documentation Center in SunExpress manages all of our company’s documentation, including both operational areas like flight operations, ground operations, and safety, as well as non-operational areas such as accounting, revenue, and strategy. This results in handling a vast amount of data. The implementation of the entire project took us a year, with a dedicated project team of five personnel from the Documentation Center.

It was a pleasure working with the DeltaXML team who were helpful and approachable throughout the process. We didn’t require any formal training since our team was already knowledgeable, and DeltaXML’s documentation was exceptionally clear and comprehensive. Instead of relying on manually marked documents or automatically added change bars such as some other systems use, this comparison solution helps our end users to easily understand the revisions made within the documents. Despite the initial user resistance mentioned above, the responses we are encountering now, particularly when reviewing regulations, is that our users frequently ask if there is a way to use DeltaXML to mark the exact changes within them.

The software’s settings and functionality were straightforward to understand, and as I mentioned earlier, their documentation was clear and easy to follow, making the implementation process smooth. On the regulatory front, after reaching out to relevant authorities regarding the use of these more efficient change management-defined documents, they were equally excited to review our documentation.

THE RESULTS

Upon integrating DITA Compare into our process, SunExpress achieved significant reduction in man-hours per document revision and greatly improved user experience when reviewing revised documents. There was an approximately 90% reduction in man-hours spent demonstrating changes in Word documents along with 80% faster revision review times. We also enjoyed an improved user experience with quick access to the parts where changes were made and the new solution minimized risks associated with content changes in operational processes. Moreover, there is an expert support team always on hand to answer any questions. DeltaXML has gained considerable experience in comparison technologies over many years, helping airlines and MROs to provide consistent content for their users.

LESSONS LEARNED, NEXT STEPS AND FUTURE PLANS

In technical terms, on reflection, we could have restricted the elements used in our XML schema. This would likely have increased the accuracy of DeltaXML and reduced the time needed for us to review the documents afterward for any potential issues.

We are a team that always looks to the future with innovations. Although we are currently using DeltaXML for our IOSA (IATA Operational Safety Audit) program, we are planning to expand its capabilities to enable much more efficient audits within the system. By marking the exact changes on ISARPs (IOSA Standards and Recommended Practices), our auditors will be able to understand the requirements with much greater ease.

For us, this has been a very worthwhile implementation which has not only reduced man hours spent in searching for changes but has also improved the quality and accuracy of our documentation. I hope that readers have found the case study informative and that, if you face similar challenges to ones that we faced at SunExpress, you will find it a useful part of your research.