FRA Technical Releases

A staple benefit of FRA membership has been the ability to search for technical releases that pertain to a certain topic or area of expertise. How many times have you been able to use something in a technical release that has improved your work?

Have you submitted one? Maybe now is the time to publish for the first time!

The goal of a technical release is to present, in one or two pages, a complete report on a new machine, method, device, or idea. Technical releases are written on a wide variety of subjects, and are a great way to promote a new or innovative way of doing something. Consider anything that you are doing or using (or someone you know is doing or using) that improves the process of growing, protecting, harvesting, transporting, or utilizing wood fiber as a promising item. If you’re in doubt, or think that your subject may have already been covered, check with an FRA Region Manager or Coordinator.

Pictures are very important to document your product or idea. It grabs the attention of the reader, and brings more focus to the detail held within the text.

FRA technical releases are generally organized under the following headings:

• Introduction: Gives an overview of the technical release, and permits the reader to quickly decide whether it concerns them.
• General Features: Briefly addresses the Who? What? Why? When? and How? of the subject.
• Operation: Explains the way the system or idea works.
• Application: If your technical release is explaining the subject in the context of one particular site (a highly recommended approach), this section describes how the subject functions and improves the operation.
• Specifications and Cost: This section reports actual dimensions, materials, horsepower, acres, components, etc., and either general or specific price information.

If there are any manufacturers featured in the text, getting approval from them to publish the detail is important.

Finally, send the approved draft – with pictures – to a Region Manager/Coordinator. We will work with you to ensure appearance, sentence structure, and grammar is edited before publication.

Technical Releases are available on the FRA website, in the Members Only section: Technical Releases