Documentation with STE Converter: 20% Faster Product Development

Challenge

An industrial automation company* faced a critical need to standardize its technical documentation to meet Simplified Technical English (STE) guidelines. The nature of their work required precise and universally understandable documentation to avoid assembly errors and ensure compliance with international safety standards. However, the documentation process was hindered by inconsistent terminology, complex language structures, and varying technical language styles across their multilingual teams. This led to frequent misinterpretations, rework, and delays that negatively impacted their production timelines.

Above all, in their industry, adhering to STE is essential for obtaining operational permits, as compliance directly impacts safety and accuracy in machinery assembly and usage. Without STE-compliant documentation, they risked non-compliance, delays in regulatory approvals, and assembly errors.

Compounding this issue was the need to integrate documentation management directly into their existing CMS, as handling high-volume technical manuals manually would be both inefficient and prone to error.

*The company's name is not disclosed in compliance with confidentiality agreements.

Solution

Product: Simplified Technical English (STE)

To address these requirements, Lingvanex provided a customized STE Converter, designed to seamlessly integrate with the company’s CMS. This integration allowed the documentation team to work within their familiar environment, accessing STE conversion tools in real time without needing separate platforms.

The Converter supported high-volume uploads without character restrictions, enabling full documentation sets to be processed together for consistent language use across all files. A custom glossary ensured correct terminology across multilingual teams, and context recognition allowed accurate adaptation of terms depending on usage, critical for regulatory compliance.

Results

With the STE Converter, the company achieved a 20% reduction in time-to-market, as compliant, standardized documentation minimized rework and sped up regulatory approval. Ensuring strict adherence to STE not only improved safety compliance but also reduced assembly errors, safeguarding the company’s reputation and meeting industry standards.

The seamless CMS integration also enhanced efficiency, allowing the documentation team to handle high-volume content effortlessly, ensuring that documents met regulatory requirements from the beginning. The enhanced collaboration across multilingual teams improved accuracy, strengthened compliance, and bolstered the company’s global communication.