Organizing a meeting involving people from many countries is a difficult undertaking, one that requires the resolution of many details. It is easy to forget about a seemingly small yet crucial issue. This is the kind of thing we need to consider in the preparation of documentation in the appropriate language versions.
The clients is a leading supplier of industrial automation, software-based test and measurement solutions, small and portable multimeters along with commercially used control systems at the highest level of safety. The Polish office of the client is part of an international structure covering all continents. In this situation, some of the documentation is maintained in the local language, while the rest is in the prime language of the company.
They contacted us with a question about the possibility of delivering a translation within the next hour. The material comprised over 12,000 words, which was a very large amount considering the time limit imposed by the client. An additional challenge was the file format: the client did not have an editable version, which meant that the graphic designer had to convert over 30 pages before starting the actual translation.
Considering the very short lead time and the fact that the translation was needed for internal use, we agreed with the client that the translation would be done automatically using a machine translation engine. For the needs of the meeting, the quality of such a translation was satisfactory, the cost was low, while the rapid delivery time was decisive. After the meeting, a professional machine translation post-editing service could be used alongside a classic translation process. We could delegate our computer graphic designers to prepare the conversion of PDF files, meaning that this aspect of the order was also feasible, despite the short lead time.
We chose a graphic designer known for their swift completion of tasks. First, we began working on converting the files, despite knowing that we were still waiting the official acceptance of the costs from the client. Waiting for the official order document would result in the order being completed after the deadline, an important meeting for the client. Thanks to this, we had a file ready for translation just after receiving the official confirmation. From several available machine translation engines, we selected the most appropriate one, and the translation itself was carried out using the client’s translation memory, which further improved the quality of the translation.
The use of modern technologies and experienced employees, together with the client-oriented attitude, allowed us to prepare the translation in record time. Shortly after the meeting, we received positive feedback from the client. The results were satisfactory and our constant support for them has now been expanded with another positive experience.
Have you ever noticed, especially at the last minute, that important documents are missing in the correct language version? At Skrivanek we use solutions that can help in such situations. If you also need a quick translation of materials for internal use, then why not contact us!
