Standards & Consultancy

At Shufrans, we work according to international technical documentation standards such as S1000D, S2000M, ATA-iSpec 2200 and Shipdex, while having the flexibility to deal with your specific requirements.

Technical Writing

An important aspect of content development is technical writing. At Shufrans TechDocs, we focus on clarity in documentation. Therefore, we ensure that language is not an obstacle for users to read and understand the information to be conveyed.

Simplified Technical English

ASD-STE100 Simplified Technical English (STE) is an international writing standard that helps to make technical documentation less ambiguous, easier to understand and faster to translate.

Certified ASD-STE100 Training

We are the global leader in ASD-STE100 training and consultancy. Our certified Simplified Technical English training workshops are conducted by seasoned industry experts.

Rule 3.6 Use only the active voice in procedural writing is my favourite STE rule. Use the active voice as much as possible in descriptive writing. In my opinion, this rule would avoid a lot of translated texts misunderstandings. Thank you for the course and being flexible. You accepted moving the course to September to give us the opportunity to complete the TCTrainNet unit.

TCLoc Master's Programme University of Strasbourg
Shumin is a supportive and approachable manager, colleague and friend. She possesses excellent linguistic, communication and presentation skills. She is able to communicate well and is eloquent on the international platform and is able to exercise professional inter-cultural sensitivities.

Dennis Yeo Learning Advocate, Ngee Ann Polytechnic
The course intro was helpful. Shumin used examples, videos, and asked us questions to introduce the material. Knowing that the subject matter could be dry, she tried to counteract that by varying the presentation. The information itself was useful for what we did later in the course. My favourite rules are the word count rules. That sounds lame, but I tend to write too long of sentences that don’t get to the point. The exercises were really helpful in demonstrating the rules that we had talked about / gone over. I got the most out of doing the exercises and working on the examples that we submitted. I would definitely recommend the course to someone considering or currently using STE. Shumin catered the course to our needs and familiarity level. She was very knowledgeable and was happy to help us through trouble spots and answer our questions.

Kelly Walsh, Technical Writer Aerotech Inc.
This was a very useful training course for understanding the meaning and goals of Simplified Technical English. The trainer's performance is very good and experienced. My favourite STE verbs are: COLLECT, EXAMINE, and GET. The exercises in this course are helpful and reinforced learning. STE should be the standard for any technical contect written. I would recommend this STE training workshop to any suppliers and colleagues in the field.

Rene de Jonge, Teamleader ILS Damen Schelde Naval Shipbuilding
As advisor to her ASD-STE100 Simplified Technical English on-the job-training, Shumin adopts a very structured approach to learning. She observes, absorbs and analyses to come up with relevant and insightful questions as well as ideas regarding the subject matter and improved ASD-STE100 training methods. Shumin is a very driven and highly intelligent professional who works very well either independently or as part of a team. She has strong analytical skills and expresses herself very well both verbally and in writing. Her sense of responsibility and passion about achieving the set objectives while meeting and exceeding clients' expectations is very inspiring and is a great asset to the company and its customers alike.

Frans Wijma, PhD ILS expert, trainer & consultant, Shufra Ltd
This course shares a good overview of structure, purpose, history, and contextual information about STE. The limited vocabulary and restricted list of words, short sentence constructions, active voice, and imperative verb usage are valuable takeaways messages to act upon in Simplified English. The examples used in this training are quite realistic and it is very likely that I will recommend this STE training to someone else.

Roland Kiser, Terminology Coordinator, Schindler
STE Rule 1.3 Use approved words only with their approved meaning is my go-to rule. My favourite STE verbs are “examine”, “measure” and “make sure”. I always use the non-approved verbs of “check” and “inspect” before. I highly recommend this course to other people. If most people write with STE, technical work steps will become clearer and easier for understanding.

Kevin Zhao Kai Vibration Analyst, Maersk Drilling
I absolutely enjoyed participating in your course! I came away with a significantly deeper understanding of Simplified Technical English (STE). For the introduction to STE itself, I wouldn't hesitate to give it a perfect score – 10 out of 10! It truly laid a strong foundation for the concepts.

Out of all the STE rules we covered, rule 5.1 particularly resonated with me. The emphasis on keeping sentences short and concise, with a maximum of 20 words for procedures, makes perfect sense. It definitely streamlines the instructions and improves clarity.

The STE presentations and exercises we reviewed were also fantastic, and I would rate them a very strong 9 out of 10. They provided a great balance of explanation and practical application, solidifying the learning. Overall, this STE course has been an incredibly valuable experience, and I would absolutely recommend it to all my colleagues! They would undoubtedly benefit from the clear and concise communication techniques emphasized in the course.

Technical Editor Grundfos
The trainer was extremely knowledgeable and personable. She worked with us to resolve concerns and find creative solutions to challenging word choice suggestions. My preferred STE rules include: Limited accepted words in the vocabulary, limited length of sentences, and only using words for the approved meaning. A lot of writing, especially descriptive writing, can be verbose and cumbersome. It seems to me that sometimes engineers use fancy words to sound smarter or to show how complex or advanced the technology is, but that is not always helpful to the average user. As a user, I appreciate simple and clear instructions and explanations. I am hopeful that STE will let me write simply and clearly for our users. Thank you, Shumin! I really enjoyed the presentation and learning more about STE and how to use it.

Mickie Newsome, Technical Communications Editor Komatsu
I've found all the rules introduced in this workshop equally valuable and applicable in my field of work. The ASD-STE100 Specification is very useful for searching examples and finding STE compliant alternatives. It was also great that we has such a large number of practical exercises. Personally, it would be more valuable to have more context available. This helps us judge how to apply STE optimally. Thank you Shumin! Your workshop was concise, clear, and pragmatic. I also liked the occasional humour! 🙂

Diane Goodrick, Information Architect/ Author Trainer Schindler Managment AG