Showing posts with label technical writing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label technical writing. Show all posts

Monday, October 14, 2013

Shufra invites you to a 2-day ASD-STE100 Simplified Technical English training in Dubai, UAE

Join this professional training opportunity to learn about international documentation standards and achieve:
  • Cost savings
  • Reduced translation cost
  • Professional improvement
  • Quality assurance
  • Compliance
  • Competitive advantage
  • Shorter time-to-market and downtime
Shufra's training has been fully updated to support the latest version of the specification - Issue 6, January 2013.

Topics

Simplified Technical English will greatly improve the quality of your documentation and help you achieve considerable time and cost savings. This standard regulates the language used in technical publications, making text easier to understand, less ambiguous and more consistent. STE greatly improves translation quality and provides a perfect basis for multilingual translation, saving cost while achieving optimum quality.
See our case study to learn more about the cost savings associated with Simplified Technical English.

When

The STE course will be held on 3 and 4 November 2013, from 9.00 till 16.00 h.

Where

Dubai, UAE

Who we are

Shufra was founded by seasoned industry experts who work according to international standards and have extensive experience in many industries, including aerospace, defense, electronics, machinery, medical equipment, banking and telecommunications.
Please contact us for more information or to register.

This site is no longer maintained

You may be interested in the following links:
www.shufrans-techdocs.com for all technical documentation and publication needs.
www.asd-ste100.net for Simplified Technical English expertise.
www.asd-ste100.solutions for Simplified Technical English training & consultancy services.

International training workshops can be found here:

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Register for a 2-day ASD-STE100 Simplified Technical English training in Amsterdam

Join this professional training opportunity to learn about international documentation standards and achieve:
  • Cost savings
  • Reduced translation cost
  • Professional improvement
  • Quality assurance
  • Compliance
  • Competitive advantage
  • Shorter time-to-market and downtime
Shufra's training has been fully updated to support the latest version of the specification - Issue 6, January 2013.

Topics

Simplified Technical English will greatly improve the quality of your documentation and help you achieve considerable time and cost savings. This standard regulates the language used in technical publications, making text easier to understand, less ambiguous and more consistent. STE greatly improves translation quality and provides a perfect basis for multilingual translation, saving cost while achieving optimum quality.
See our case study to learn more about the cost savings associated with Simplified Technical English.

When

The ASD-STE100 course will be held on 30 and 31 May 2013, from 9.00 till 16.00 h.

Where

Near Amsterdam Schiphol Airport, Netherlands

Who we are

Shufra was founded by seasoned industry experts who work according to international standards and have extensive experience in many industries, including aerospace, defense, electronics, machinery, medical equipment, banking and telecommunications.
Please contact us for more information or to register.

This site is no longer maintained

You may be interested in the following links:
www.shufrans-techdocs.com for all technical documentation and publication needs.
www.asd-ste100.net for Simplified Technical English expertise.
www.asd-ste100.solutions for Simplified Technical English training & consultancy services.

International training workshops can be found here:

Saturday, May 4, 2013

A 2-day professional ASD-STE100 training opportunity in Helsinki, Finland

Join this ASD-STE100 Simplified Technical English training to learn about international documentation standards and achieve:
  • Cost savings
  • Reduced translation cost
  • Professional improvement
  • Quality assurance
  • Compliance
  • Competitive advantage
  • Shorter time-to-market and downtime
Shufra's training has been fully updated to support the latest version of the specification - Issue 6, January 2013.

Topics

Simplified Technical English will greatly improve the quality of your documentation and help you achieve considerable time and cost savings. This standard regulates the language used in technical publications, making text easier to understand, less ambiguous and more consistent. STE greatly improves translation quality and provides a perfect basis for multilingual translation, saving cost while achieving optimum quality.
See our case study to learn more about the cost savings associated with Simplified Technical English.

When

The STE course will be held on 27 and 28 May 2013, from 9.00 till 16.00 h.

Where

Helsinki, Finland

Who we are

Shufra is an international consultancy firm. It was founded by seasoned industry experts who work according to international standards and have extensive experience in many industries, including aerospace, defense, electronics, machinery, medical equipment, banking and telecommunications.
Please contact us for more information or to register.

This site is no longer maintained

You may be interested in the following links:
www.shufrans-techdocs.com for all technical documentation and publication needs.
www.asd-ste100.net for Simplified Technical English expertise.
www.asd-ste100.solutions for Simplified Technical English training & consultancy services.

International training workshops can be found here:

Shufra invites you to a 2-day ASD-STE100 Simplified Technical English training in Tokyo, Japan

Join this professional training opportunity to learn about international documentation standards and achieve:
  • Cost savings
  • Reduced translation cost
  • Professional improvement
  • Quality assurance
  • Compliance
  • Competitive advantage
  • Shorter time-to-market and downtime
Shufra's training has been fully updated to support the latest version of the specification - Issue 6, January 2013.

Topics

Simplified Technical English will greatly improve the quality of your documentation and help you achieve considerable time and cost savings. This standard regulates the language used in technical publications, making text easier to understand, less ambiguous and more consistent. STE greatly improves translation quality and provides a perfect basis for multilingual translation, saving cost while achieving optimum quality.
See our case study to learn more about the cost savings associated with Simplified Technical English.

When

The STE course will be held on 27 and 28 June 2013, from 9.00 till 16.00 h.

Where

Tokyo, Japan

Who we are

Shufra is an international consultancy firm. It was founded by seasoned industry experts who work according to international standards and have extensive experience in many industries, including aerospace, defense, electronics, machinery, medical equipment, banking and telecommunications.
Please contact us for more information or to register.

This site is no longer maintained

You may be interested in the following links:
www.shufrans-techdocs.com for all technical documentation and publication needs.
www.asd-ste100.net for Simplified Technical English expertise.
www.asd-ste100.solutions for Simplified Technical English training & consultancy services.

International training workshops can be found here:

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

The value of rules in Simplified Technical English

Rules regulate the choice and use of words, building phrases and sentences, the use of articles, the verb tenses that can be used and (to some extent) the punctuation. Some of the rules are specific to procedural or to descriptive text. Part of the rules is generally known to professional communicators, but the overall set is in general rather nicely balanced while going beyond most corporate and general style guides.

 

Some examples of rules are:

• Keep procedural sentences as short as possible
  (20 words maximum).
• In an instruction, write the verb in the imperative
  (“command”) form.
• Keep sentences in descriptive writing as short as
  possible (25 words maximum).
• Start a warning or a caution with a simple and
  clear command.

Each rule comes with an often lengthy explanation. 



If I could only pick one rule that has a lot of positive impact on readability and re-use, it would be rule 1.1, which basically tells us that we can only use approved words (yes, that’s right –every single word we use has to be approved), and that these words can  come  from  three sources: the general approve vocabulary listed in the specification, Technical  Names and Technical Verbs. The latter two are determined by the user, based on industry, company and product. 


Copyright © 2013 Shufra, LLC. All rights reserved. No part of this article may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means whatsoever without express written permission from the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. Please refer all pertinent questions to Shufra Consultancy.

Monday, February 11, 2013

How is STE different from company style guides?

Company style guides often include:
·         Writing rules
·         Company-specific terminology
·         Rules on formatting

STE includes:
·         66 writing rules
·         Guidelines on company-specific terminology (nouns and adjectives known as “Technical Names”)
·         General vocabulary (approx. 900 approved words as well a large number of commonly used words that are not approved in STE)


The main difference between STE and the average corporate style guide thus is the addition of general vocabulary, while providing for flexibility regarding company- and industry-specific terminology – a very powerful concept that greatly facilitates adaptation to a company’s specific requirements.

As STE was developed by people from different companies (including for example Boeing and Airbus), countries (USA, Canada, various European countries) and professional background (writers, linguists and engineers), the rule set and vocabulary are rather well-balanced rather than to reflect the views of a single person or company. Moreover, the rules and vocabulary were validated against actual content from relevant manuals.

Since development of the specification started some 30 years ago, it has seen regular updates, in part based on change requests from users in the field. The current release is Issue 6, released in January 2013. The specification is maintained by ASD (formerly AECMA), the AeroSpace and Defence Industries Association of Europe.

About the author 

Dr. Frans Wijma has a background in electrical engineering and linguistics.
He has been working as a consultant with customers in various industries worldwide and is widely regarded as the leading expert in Simplified Technical English, aviation documentation and multilingual documentation, providing training and consultancy services to customers worldwide. In addition, he is a regular speaker at language and industry events, fluent in 10 languages and a commercial pilot.

Over the years, Frans Wijma was responsible for the development and implementation of STE checker tools for compliance with ASD-STE100 Simplified Technical English (Simplified Technical English, formerly AECMA Simplified English). He has also worked with the checker tools MAXit (Smart Communications), BSEC (Boeing Simplified English Checker) and acrolinx IQ.

Frans Wijma was the project manager for many translation and development programs for customers worldwide, including Boeing, Embraer, Black & Decker, Rolls-Royce and Fuji Heavy Industries.
In 2001, Frans Wijma was presented with the prestigious Pride @ Boeing award in recognition of exceptional performance in supporting the development of the multilingual Longbow Apache IETM for Korea.

Copyright © 2013 Shufra, LLC. All rights reserved. No part of this article may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means whatsoever without express written permission from the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. Please refer all pertinent questions to Shufra Consultancy.

This site is no longer maintained

You may be interested in the following links:
www.shufrans-techdocs.com for all technical documentation and publication needs.
www.asd-ste100.net for Simplified Technical English expertise.


www.asd-ste100.solutions for Simplified Technical English training & consultancy services.

International training workshops can be found here:

Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Information Mapping®, ASD-STE100 e un Master Class sul Lago di Garda!

Introduzione

Writec e Shufra sono lieti di offrirvi un programma completo di formazione per aiutarvi a comunicare in modo più efficace migliorando la struttura, la presentazione e le parole usate nella documentazione. Il risultato è una migliore leggibilità e accessibilità all’informazione con notevoli risparmi sui costi, in particolare per i documenti che vengono tradotti in più lingue.

 

Information Mapping®

Information Mapping® è un metodo basato su ricerche scientifiche per la redazione strutturata e modulare di documenti tecnici e di business. Information Mapping ® offre gli strumenti per analizzare, organizzare e presentare l'informazione in modo chiaro, coerente e definito in base alle esigenze dei destinatari e lo scopo delle informazioni. Il metodo Information Mapping® offre i seguenti vantaggi:
  • Riduce i tempi/costi di redazione e traduzione della documentazione
  • Riduce i tempi di training del personale
  • Trattiene in azienda la conoscenza dei dipendenti
  • Porta a una documentazione standard e aderente alle Direttive
  • Migliora le procedure operative e di sicurezza
  • Prepara i contenuti per i CMS (Content Management System)
Docente: Vilma Zamboli, Writec
Lingua di docenza: Italiano
Durata del corso: due giorni

 

ASD-STE100 Simplified Technical English

ASD-STE100 (Simplified Technical English) è uno standard internazionale che regola il linguaggio usato nei manuali tecnici. L’utilizzo di ASD-STE100 migliora la leggibilità e la traducibilità della documentazione tecnica in ogni settore, favorendo in tal modo il funzionamento sicuro ed efficiente delle apparecchiature. Esso coniuga la garanzia della qualità con notevoli risparmi sui costi per le pubblicazioni multilingue.
Docente: Dr. Frans Wijma, Shufra LLC
Lingua di docenza: Inglese. È disponibile un servizio di interpretariato da e verso l’italiano (molti dei principi appresi si applicano alla lingua italiana).
Durata del corso: due giorni

 

Master Class

Per coloro che si iscrivono a entrambi i corsi, offriamo un workshop esclusivo e gratuito di mezza giornata in cui si coniugano tutte le conoscenze accumulate nei corsi dei precedenti quattro giorni e gli approfondimenti di partecipanti e docenti, per rivedere e riscrivere qualsiasi documento portato dai partecipanti. Sperimenteremo l’utilizzo combinato di IM e STE , nonché le best practice di scrittura.

 

I docenti

 

Vilma Zamboli

Information Mapping® Certified Instructor, vincitrice di due Merit Award alla Trans European Technical Communication Competition, Vilma Zamboli si dedica con passione alla Technical Communication a partire dal 1999 dopo 15 anni come analista e sviluppatore software in ambito automazione industriale. CEO di Writec - Information Mapping™ Solution Partner, uno studio professionale per la comunicazione tecnica, ha formato 12 aziende nei metodi di scrittura, negli strumenti e nei processi relativi alla Technical Communication e al Technical Writing. Writec offre servizi di progettazione di documentazione per aziende meccaniche, di elettronica e software.

 

Dr. Frans Wijma

Dr. Frans Wijma, proprietario di Shufra LLC, è considerato il massimo esperto in Simplified Technical English, documentazione aeronautica e documentazione multilingue. Ha tenuto corsi di formazione ASD-STE100 in più di 145 aziende in tutto il mondo, in settori che vanno dall’aerospaziale alla difesa, dalla sanità all’IT.

 

Programma

18 e 19 Febbraio 2013: Information Mapping
20 e 21 Febbraio 2013: ASD-STE100 Simplified Technical English
22 Febbraio 2013: Master Class

 

Referenze

Vilma Zamboli ha formato diverse aziende italiane tra cui citiamo ABB Sace, Same Deutz-Fahr, Siemens, Sistemi, SSI Space Software Italia e Tetra Pak.
Dr. Frans Wijma ha formato diverse aziende in tutto il mondo tra cui citiamo ABB, Boeing, Eurocopter, Honeywell, Kubota, Samsung, Tetra Pak e Volkswagen.

 

Luogo

Desenzano del Garda (BS)

Vi preghiamo di contattarci per ulteriori informazioni o per iscriversi.

Saturday, December 29, 2012

Technical writing is hard work

This site is no longer maintained

You may be interested in the following links:
www.shufrans-techdocs.com for all technical documentation and publication needs.
www.asd-ste100.net for Simplified Technical English expertise.
www.asd-ste100.solutions for Simplified Technical English training & consultancy services.

International training workshops can be found here:

Thursday, December 27, 2012

Certified ASD-STE100 training classes in January 2013


Registration is open!

Ankara, Turkey
Istanbul, Turkey
Sao Jose dos Campos, Brazil
Jakarta, Indonesia
Helsinki, Finland

This site is no longer maintained

You may be interested in the following links:
www.shufrans-techdocs.com for all technical documentation and publication needs.
www.asd-ste100.net for Simplified Technical English expertise.
www.asd-ste100.solutions for Simplified Technical English training & consultancy services.

International training workshops can be found here:

Monday, February 13, 2012

Tata Consultancy Services hired Shufra to maximise customer satisfaction in terms of compliance with ASD-STE100 Simplified Technical English.



ASD-STE100 was originally developed to make maintenance documentation for aircraft and their components easier to understand for a global audience. Over time, use of the specification was increasingly required for other types of manuals in the electronics, automotive and IT industries. Amongst them is Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), a subsidiary of the Tata Group. By 2012 revenues, TCS is one of India's most valuable companies, and the largest India-based IT services company. Their services include technical publications for major aircraft manufacturers and their suppliers, who require compliance with relevant standards such as ASD-STE100.

Airbus is widely known to have strict STE quality checks that are difficult to meet for outside suppliers. Head of Aerospace Vertical, Mr Sureshbabu says: “Amidst the financial turmoil of 2008, India continues to offer new business opportunities. At TCS, we constantly keep up with high quality standards and keep our customers happy. Learning how to optimally use a documentation standard like ASD-STE100 is a substantial boost to our technical writing team’s capabilities and significantly improved our compliance rating.”

Said Dr Frans Wijma, Shufra’s principal trainer: “To date, Shufra has trained 20 technical writers and SMEs at TCS and we expect many more companies in India to take this leap forward.”