Link permanence and version certainty
Operating manual URLs that still work in ten years.
The EU Machinery Regulation (2023/1230, Art. 10(7)) lets you supply manuals digitally. The hard part is what it does not spell out: keeping every printed QR code working for the life of the machine. ManualHost gives those addresses a permanent home, ties each version to the machines it shipped with, and keeps a record of whether they stayed reachable.
ManualHost is currently onboarding a limited number of manufacturers. Leave your address and we'll be in touch as soon as a place opens up.
Type plate → operating manual: one QR code, one permanent address, the matching version
Permanent addresses
Published manuals are immutable and never silently deleted. Every version keeps its own stable address.
Serial number matching
Operators enter their machine's serial number and get exactly the manual version that shipped with it: practical certainty the regulation does not demand.
QR labels and proof
Print-ready QR labels for the type plate, plus automated availability checks with a monthly PDF record of what was reachable when.
A printed QR code cannot be recalled.
It stays on the machine for as long as the machine runs. The only thing that can change is the address behind it, and that is where it is decided whether the manual is still findable in ten years.
Without a permanent address
The site moves, the code stays
A relaunch, a new CMS, a restructured path: the address changes and the label on the type plate leads nowhere. The operator is left standing at the machine with an error message.
With ManualHost
The address is the commitment
Published addresses are immutable and never deleted. When a version is withdrawn its address points to the valid successor; it never dead-ends.
Three steps, then it runs
- 01
Upload and publish
You upload the PDF, give it a version label and attach a serial number range. Publishing makes the version immutable at database level and gives it its permanent address.
- 02
QR label on the type plate
The system generates the QR code and a short address to print. Both point at the platform domain, so they survive a change of your own domain.
- 03
The end user scans
The scan opens the product page. Enter a serial number and the system returns the version whose range contains that number, rather than the newest one by default.
Where the alternatives are better, and where they are not
Three routes lead to a digitally supplied operating manual. For many manufacturers one of the other two is the right one.
| PDF on your own website | Editorial system (CCMS) | ManualHost | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Permanent address | Possible, but your job at every relaunch | Depends on the system and its hosting | The purpose of the service |
| Version per serial number | Only with your own logic | Usually present, often through variants | Built in, through serial number ranges |
| Multiple languages | As many files as you like, maintained by hand | Its strongest point: translation workflow, reuse, terminology | One PDF per language and version, no translation workflow |
| Proof of reachability | Not available | Not what the system is for | Automatic checks, monthly PDF record on the Pro plan |
| Request for a printed copy | Through your contact form | Rarely provided for | A form on the manual page, requests in the dashboard |
| Own domain | Obviously, it is your website | Usually possible | On every plan, including the free one |
| Setting up | Hours, once the website exists | Weeks to months, with content migration | Minutes per product |
| Cost level | Close to nothing, in exchange for your time | Four to five figures a year | Two figures a month |
If you already run an editorial system, you probably do not need this service. It is meant for manufacturers who work with PDFs and still need an address that stays.
What actually runs
Only points that can be checked against the running system.
Storage in the EU
The database and the files sit in the Frankfurt project region (eu-central-1). Some of the providers involved are US legal entities; transfers to third countries rest on standard contractual clauses. The processing agreement names each party individually.
Encrypted in transit throughout
Every connection to the application, the database and the object storage runs over TLS. Manual pages are reachable without signing in, but not unencrypted.
Published versions are immutable
The lock sits in the database, not in the application: database triggers refuse any change or deletion of a published version. The only thing allowed is a documented withdrawal, which records the time, the person and the reason in an append-only log.
Reachability is checked automatically
A recurring job calls every published address and records the status code and response time. That is what the availability record you can export as a PDF is built from.
What it costs
Fixed amounts, no tiering by request count or page count.
Free
€0per month
To try it with one machine
- 1 product
- 2 languages per version
- Own domain
- Full export
Starter
€39per month
For manufacturers with a manageable range
- 10 products
- 2 languages per version
- Own domain
- Full export
Pro
€99per month
For a broad range and multilingual delivery
- 50 products
- Unlimited languages per version
- Availability record as a PDF
- Own domain and full export
Included on every plan, the free one as well: your own domain and a full export of all your data. Both are exit guarantees and must not depend on a subscription.
During the waitlist phase billing is not active. Nothing is charged and no payment details are needed.
Six questions manufacturers actually ask
Do I have to supply the manual digitally?
No. Regulation (EU) 2023/1230 permits digital supply, it does not require it. You decide whether you deliver digitally, on paper, or both. The conditions the regulation attaches once you go digital are set out in the article on Article 10(7).
Is paper still allowed?
Yes. Paper remains allowed, and in certain cases the regulation expressly provides for a printed copy. Anyone supplying digitally has to be able to deliver a paper version on request; every manual page carries a form for those requests.
What happens if ManualHost goes away?
There is a page of its own for that, because the question is fair. In short: you can take a full export at any time without our involvement, describing the address structure in machine-readable form, and keep serving the same addresses yourself or through another provider. Anyone using their own domain from the start does not even need to change the printed addresses.
Can I use my own domain?
Yes, on every plan including the free one. That is deliberate: an address stamped into a type plate should belong to you and not to us. QR codes and short addresses deliberately keep pointing at the platform domain, so they stay valid if a customer domain ever lapses.
How do I get my data back out?
Through a button in the dashboard. The export is a ZIP archive with every PDF, a machine-readable manifest.json describing the full address structure including serial number ranges, and a README explaining how to serve the same addresses from any web server. Free, on every plan, without cancelling.
Who is liable if the manual is unreachable?
The duties under the regulation fall on you as the manufacturer; a service provider cannot take them off your hands. What we can take on is the technical commitment to reachability along with the evidence for it, and that is in the draft SLA you can read in advance. The article on liability sets out what the text of the regulation supports and what it leaves open.
Who is behind this
ManualHost is built and run by a small, independent provider. That is not modesty, it is the information you need in order to decide: you are trusting an address meant to accompany a machine for 15 to 30 years to a company younger than that machine. That is why the service is built so that you do not depend on its survival, and why the answer to the ten-year question sits openly on a page of its own instead of in the small print.
What that means in practice →The awkward questions, answered up front
Three pages you can read before you decide; not only once you ask.
- Read →
If we cease to exist
What happens to your addresses and your files if this company disappears, and what you can do about it today.
- Read →
DPA, SLA, exit procedure
The draft contracts open to inspection, including the points that are not settled yet.
- Read →
For writing agencies and CE consultants
How to offer digital availability as a recurring service of your own.
Join the waitlist
ManualHost is currently onboarding a limited number of manufacturers. Leave your address and we'll be in touch as soon as a place opens up.