AI Archives | Shufrans TechDocs Home // AI Archives | Shufrans TechDocs

Introduction

In the age of automation and artificial intelligence, there’s a common misconception that technical writing is a dying profession. However, reality is quite the opposite. As technology continues to advance, the role of technical writers becomes even more crucial in ensuring that complex information is communicated effectively and accurately.

The Evolving Role of Technical Writers

Despite the advancements in technology, human interaction remains essential in the field of technical writing. Software and automation tools can assist with tasks like formatting and style checking, but they cannot replace the creativity, judgment, and interpersonal skills that a skilled technical writer brings to the table.

Today, technical writers are expected to be more than just writers; they are communicators, collaborators, and creative thinkers. The shift towards a more creative and collaborative approach is driven by the need to produce documentation that is not only informative but also engaging and user-friendly.

The Cost-Effective Solution

One strategy that can enhance the effectiveness of technical writing is the use of Simplified English. While it might seem counterintuitive to simplify technical language, adopting Simplified English can actually make documentation more clear, concise, and accessible to a wider audience. By eliminating unnecessary jargon and complexity, technical writers can ensure that their content is easier to understand and apply.

Investing in training and development for human technical writers is a far more cost-effective solution compared to investing in expensive AI tools which do not always guarantee results.

While these tools can be helpful for certain tasks, they cannot fully replicate the nuanced understanding, critical thinking, and creative problem-solving skills that human writers bring to the table. By investing in training, organisations can empower their technical writers to excel in their roles and produce high-quality documentation that meets the needs of their audience.

Beyond Cost-Effectiveness

Investing in technical writer training offers several additional benefits beyond cost-effectiveness. Human writers can:

• Provide context and nuance: They can understand the broader context of a project and tailor their writing accordingly.
• Build relationships: They can foster strong relationships with subject matter experts and stakeholders, leading to better collaboration and understanding.
• Adapt to change: They can quickly adapt to changes in project requirements or industry trends.
• Innovate: They can contribute to innovative solutions and approaches to technical communication.

While technology can certainly assist technical writers, it cannot replace the unique skills and abilities that human writers bring to the table. By investing in training and development, organisations can ensure that their technical writing teams are equipped to meet the challenges and opportunities of the future.

Learn more about this international writing standard: www.asd-ste100.net.

Learn more about what the STE standard can do for you: https://www.shufrans-techdocs.com/simplified-technical-english-case-study/

Ongoing STE workshops: https://www.shufrans-techdocs.com/online-ste-workshop-2-day-training-course/

*Course fee includes exercises, learning aids, certificate of completion, and 120-day post-training support.

⁺⁺A €100 group discount per participant is applicable when two or more participants sign up for the same event. Send us your questions: enquiry@shufrans-techdocs.com.

A €210 fee discount is applicable when you also sign up for Certified STE Masterclass | Europe Online.

Summary of Simplified Technical English (STE)

Simplified Technical English (STE) or ASD-STE100 is a controlled technical English language that is used to write technical manuals in a way that they can be more easily understood by an international audience. STE helps to make translations cheaper and more accurate. Often a formal requirement for aircraft and defence maintenance documentation, STE can easily be adapted to all technical industries and beyond. Ms. Shumin Chen will teach participants how to correctly and effectively use STE in practice. She will also address some of the mistakes commonly found in technical writing and the frequent incorrect use of common STE writing rules.

Why select a Simplified Technical English training with Shufrans?

Shumin is a very knowledgeable STE instructor. She kept the course interesting and was always open to our questions/feedback. The introduction to Simplified Technical English has been greatly beneficial for my understanding of what the specification entails. In terms of preferred rules, I cannot pinpoint a specific set of STE writing rules as they are all valuable. This was my favorite part of the course as I enjoyed analyzing how other writers went about using STE to best apply it to their line of work.

The rewriting workshop was my favorite part of the course as I enjoyed analyzing how other writers went about using STE to best apply it to their line of work. I would highly recommend this course to all technical writers. Shumin Chen takes the time to clearly explain the rules of STE. A very attentive instructor, indeed. If given the chance, I would really enjoy working along side her. Michael Palmieri, Documentation Specialist, AON3D | The Advanced Additive Manufacturing Platform

STE Course Outline*

This 2-day Europe Online STE Workshop includes interactive training and exercises.

• Day 1: Classroom Training
  1. Practical overview of Simplified Technical English
  2. How STE helps both native & non-native speakers of English
  3. Benefits of adopting the STE international writing standard
  4. Case studies for editing AI-generated content with STE
  5. Writing rules and how to apply them in practice
  6. How to use the general vocabulary.
  7. Approved and non-approved words discussion and the rationale behind.

• Day 2: Application, Review, & Exercises
  1. How to deal with industry-specific terminology
  2. How to use STE for various documentation types
  3. How to implement STE with minimal disruption to on-going production and existing documentation
  4. Practical workshop session for applying STE rules to your own documents
  5. Identify and correct AI-induced errors in technical documentation
  6. Ensure STE compliance in AI-assisted writing workflows.
  7. Review, edit, and discuss participants’ own documents to reinforce learning.

* Shufrans also offers customised ASD-STE100 training solutions tailored to meet your specific requirements. These courses are normally provided at the customer’s premises.

Who should attend this Simplified Technical English training?

• Compliance managers
• CIO, COO, CTO
• Customer support managers
• Documentation managers
• Editors
• Engineering managers
• Engineers and SMEs who create documentation
• Graphics specialists
• ILS managers
• Maintenance managers
• Operation managers
• Product managers
• Project managers
• Quality managers
• Software research engineers
• Technical illustrators
• Technical writers
• Translation managers
• Translators.

What technical writing outcomes to expect?

Our interactive training, exercises and workshop, will teach participants to standardise content to:

• Create inherently clear and unambiguous documentation: STE’s strict rules eliminate jargon and complex sentence structures, ensuring everyone understands critical information, regardless of their professional backgrounds.
• Validate and refine AI-generated content: STE provides a framework for reviewing and editing AI outputs, ensuring accuracy and safety before they reach your end-users. This human oversight is crucial in mitigating the risks associated with potentially flawed AI-generated instructions.
• Build a foundation of reliable and consistent information: STE promotes standardisation, leading to more reliable and easily maintainable documentation across your organisation.

What customers are saying..

The introduction was a good and concise way to familiarize yourself with STE basics. I’ve a background in plain language, so for example the rule on noun clusters makes perfect sense. I’m all about simplification, so substituting verbs like “eliminate” for verbs like “remove” or “stop” will be my new quest. The STE exercises were helpful in getting to grasp with STE during the training workshop. I’d very likely recommend this course to anyone planning to introduce STE as it’s got a great practical angle. Jenni Virtaluoto, PhD, Senior Lecturer, University of Jyväskylä, Finland

ASD-STE100 Trainer’s qualifications

Ms. Shumin Chen, principal trainer & consultant at Shufrans TechDocs received her professional on-the-job training in the field of STE under the tutelage of Dr Frans Wijma, a linguist and documentation expert. Together as an experienced global team, they provided their combined knowledge and dedication to benefit customers worldwide. To date, they have provided training and consultancy services to over 200 companies. Shufrans TechDocs is the only company with such vast experience in providing certified STE training.

Shumin has supported various companies with their STE and other documentation needs, based on standards where possible. Although STE was developed for the aerospace industry, more specifically for aircraft maintenance documentation, she found that it made a lot of sense to apply the same principles to other industries and types of documents as well. Few -if any- changes to the specification are necessary to adapt STE to industrial sectors ranging from machinery to IT, automotive to medical equipment.

*Course fee includes exercises, learning aids, certificate of completion, and 120-day post-training support.

⁺⁺A €100 group discount per participant is applicable when two or more participants sign up for the same event. Send us your questions: enquiry@shufrans-techdocs.com.

A €210 fee discount is applicable when you also sign up for Certified STE Masterclass | US Canada Online.

Summary

Simplified Technical English (STE) is a controlled language that is used to write technical manuals in a way that they can be more easily understood by an international audience. STE helps to make translations cheaper and more accurate. Often a formal requirement for aircraft and defence maintenance documentation, STE can easily be adapted to all technical industries and beyond. Ms. Shumin Chen will show participants how to correctly and effectively use STE in practice. She will also address some of the mistakes commonly found in technical writing and the frequent incorrect use of common STE writing rules.

Course outline*

• Day 1: Classroom Training
  1. Practical overview of Simplified Technical English
  2. How STE helps both native & non-native speakers of English
  3. Benefits of adopting the STE international writing standard
  4. Writing rules and how to apply them in practice.

• Day 2: Application & Exercises
  1. How to use the general vocabulary.
  2. Approved and non-approved words discussion and the rationale behind.
  3. How to deal with industry-specific terminology
  4. How to use STE for various documentation types

• Day 3: Review, & Exercises
  1. Practical workshop session for applying STE rules to your own documents
  2. Review, edit, and discuss participants’ own documents to reinforce learning
  3. How to implement STE with minimal disruption to on-going production and existing documentation.
  4. Classroom presentation of own documents.

* Shufrans also offers customised ASD-STE100 training solutions tailored to meet your specific requirements. These courses are normally provided at the customer’s premises.

What customers are saying..

I was looking forward to the training and was not disappointed. I think that the training was valuable and would recommend that my colleagues take the training either on line or in person. Being able to send a sample document and then working on it together using my new STE skills was very helpful and valuable. Shumin was extremely knowledgeable and gave many practical examples. I hope to be able to make use of the support period post-training. Deborah Tonkin, Technical Information Engineer, Komatsu

Why select a Simplified Technical English training with Shufrans?

The introduction to ASD-STE100 was good and informative for someone like me with zero knowledge of the STE standard before. Rule 6.3 in STE writing summarizes the best of what I can take with me. There was quite a lot from the STE exercises to consume regarding grammar. Nevertheless, the worksheets were very good and helpful. I gained quite a lot of knowledge from them and they were the best part of this training workshop. Shumin was very professional and sharp as a razor. The best takeaway for me from her workshop is to give more thought to how I build my sentences rather than focussing on specific ‘allowed’ or ‘approved’ words. Jeppe Friis, Technical Inspector, Maersk Drilling Maintenance Support

Who should attend this ASD-STE100 workshop?

• Compliance managers
• CIO, COO, CTO
• Customer support managers
• Documentation managers
• Editors
• Engineering managers
• Engineers and SMEs who create documentation
• Graphics specialists
• ILS managers
• Maintenance managers
• Operation managers
• Product managers
• Project managers
• Quality managers
• Software research engineers
• Technical illustrators
• Technical writers
• Translation managers
• Translators.

What ASD-STE100 workshop training outcomes to expect?

Our interactive training, exercises and workshop, will teach participants to standardise content to:

• Enhanced Communication & Efficiency: Authors will gain the skills to create clear, consistent, and easily translatable technical documentation, facilitating effective communication with a global audience and streamlining the writing process.
• Improved Operational Safety & Reduced Downtime: By mastering STE principles, teams will produce unambiguous documentation that minimises misunderstandings, directly contributing to improved operational safety and a reduction in costly AOG/downtime.
• Optimised Lifecycle Support & Cost Reduction: Training will enable modular writing and content reuse, leading to maximised consistency, optimised product lifecycle support, and a significant reduction in the overall cost of creating and maintaining technical publications.

ASD-STE100 Trainer’s qualifications

Ms. Shumin Chen, principal trainer & consultant at Shufrans TechDocs received her professional on-the-job training in the field of STE under the tutelage of Dr Frans Wijma, a linguist and documentation expert. Together as an experienced global team, they provided their combined knowledge and dedication to benefit customers worldwide. To date, they have provided training and consultancy services to over 180 companies. Shufrans TechDocs is the only company with such vast experience in providing certified STE training.

Shumin has supported various companies with their STE and other documentation needs, based on standards where possible. Although STE was developed for the aerospace industry, more specifically for aircraft maintenance documentation, Shumin found that it made a lot of sense to apply the same principles to other industries and types of documents as well. Few -if any- changes to the specification are necessary to adapt STE to industries ranging from machinery to IT, automotive to medical equipment.

*Course fee includes exercises, learning aids, certificate of completion, and 120-day post-training support.

⁺⁺A €100 group discount per participant is applicable when two or more participants sign up for the same event. Send us your questions: enquiry@shufrans-techdocs.com.

A €210 fee discount is applicable when you also sign up for Certified STE Masterclass | Asia Pacific (APAC) Online.

Rediscover clarity in documentation with STE

Simplified Technical English (STE) or ASD-STE100 is a controlled technical English language that is used to write technical manuals in a way that they can be more easily understood by an international audience. STE helps to make translations cheaper and more accurate.

ASD-STE100 is mandated by several commercial and military specifications (MIL-SPEC) that control the style and content of maintenance documentation. Military defence standards (MIL-SPEC / MIL-STD) such as MIL-STD-3048, as well as technical documentation standards like S1000D and ATA iSpec 2200 recommend the use of ASD-STE100. In ASD-STE100, technical authors are encouraged to keep sentences brief and paragraphs short, while ensuring the completeness of information.

Often a formal requirement for aircraft and defence maintenance documentation, STE can easily be adapted to all technical industries and beyond. Ms. Shumin Chen will show participants how to correctly and effectively use STE in practice. She will also address some of the mistakes commonly found in technical writing and the frequently incorrect use of common STE writing rules.

The ASD-STE100 workshop conducted by Shufrans TechDocs made for a very good introduction to STE for new as well as intermediate users of the STE writing standard. The presentation on rules was very clear and I liked the emphasis on the fact that the rules are weighted and how one can use them flexibly. The exercises completed during this training were good and provided real world examples in technical writing in a practical way. I’d very likely recommend this course to someone else. This course is a must for any new technical writers or technical publication employees. Neil Winson, Technical Writer, Airbus Helicopters

MEA Online STE Workshop Course Outline*

• Day 1: Classroom Training
  1. Practical overview of Simplified Technical English
  2. How STE helps both native & non-native speakers of English
  3. Benefits of adopting the STE international writing standard
  4. Writing rules and how to apply them in practice
  5. How to use the general vocabulary.
  6. Approved and non-approved words discussion and the rationale behind.

• Day 2: Application, Review, & Exercises
  1. How to deal with industry-specific terminology
  2. How to use STE for various documentation types
  3. How to implement STE with minimal disruption to on-going production and existing documentation
  4. Practical workshop session for applying STE rules to your own documents
  5. Review, edit, and discuss participants’ own documents to reinforce learning
  6. Classroom presentation of own documents.

* Shufrans also offers customised ASD-STE100 training solutions tailored to meet your specific requirements. These courses are normally provided at the customer’s premises.

Who should attend this Simplified Technical English training?

• Compliance managers
• CIO, COO, CTO
• Customer support managers
• Documentation managers
• Editors
• Engineering managers
• Engineers and SMEs who create documentation
• Graphics specialists
• ILS managers
• Maintenance managers
• Operation managers
• Product managers
• Project managers
• Quality managers
• Software research engineers
• Technical illustrators
• Technical writers
• Translation managers
• Translators.

What training outcomes to expect?

Our interactive training, exercises and workshop, will teach participants to standardise content to:

• Enhanced Communication & Efficiency: Authors will gain the skills to create clear, consistent, and easily translatable technical documentation, facilitating effective communication with a global audience and streamlining the writing process.
• Improved Operational Safety & Reduced Downtime: By mastering STE principles, teams will produce unambiguous documentation that minimises misunderstandings, directly contributing to improved operational safety and a reduction in costly AOG/downtime.
• Optimised Lifecycle Support & Cost Reduction: Training will enable modular writing and content reuse, leading to maximised consistency, optimised product lifecycle support, and a significant reduction in the overall cost of creating and maintaining technical publications.

ASD-STE100 Trainer’s qualifications

Ms. Shumin Chen, principal trainer & consultant at Shufrans TechDocs received her professional on-the-job training in the field of STE under the tutelage of Dr Frans Wijma, a linguist and documentation expert. Together as an experienced global team, they provided their combined knowledge and dedication to benefit customers worldwide. To date, they have provided training and consultancy services to over 200 companies. Shufrans TechDocs is the only company with such vast experience in providing certified STE training.

Shumin has supported various companies with their ASD-STE100 technical writing and other documentation needs, based on standards where possible. Although STE was developed for the aerospace industry, more specifically for aircraft maintenance documentation, Shumin found that it made a lot of sense to apply the same principles to other industries and types of documents as well. Few -if any- changes to the specification are necessary to adapt STE to industries ranging from machinery to IT, automotive to medical equipment.