Lean Mean Translation Machine
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This document discusses reasons why Fortune 500 companies translate and who currently handles translations. It also provides tips for lean translation, including using a single translation partner, glossaries/term bases, and units of measurement standards. The example is given of a manufacturer that consolidated its translation spending and saw annual costs reduced from $300k to $100k after implementing these lean translation practices.
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Lean Mean Translation Machine
- 1. Lean Mean Translation Machine @ineverylanguage #stcwebinar
- 6. It’s not about doing more with less, but doing better with what you’ve got.
- 8. Why do you translate?
- 9. Top Reasons Fortune 500 Companies Translate Percentage 64 66 68 70 72 74 76 78 80 82 To meet regulatory & legal requirements To increase brand value To reach more customers in markets where they already compete To meet customer expectations 69.39% 71.43% 71.43% 79.49%
- 11. Who handles translation now?
- 20. Who should handle your translation?
- 21. Who do you translate for?
- 22. Dialect
- 23. Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, Cubans, Salvadorians, Dominicans, Guatemalans, Colombians, Hondurans, Ecuadorians & Peruvians (10 different origin groups) make up 92% of the US Hispanic population.
- 32. What Else? • Units of Measurement? • Calendar & Time Formats? • Target Currency? • Phone Number? (Interpreters Available?) • Where Are New Images Coming From? • Anticipated Changes – When & How Often? • Reviewers? (In-Country Review)
- 35. Glossaries & Term Bases Glossaries and Term Bases Glossaries & Term Bases
- 36. Glossaries & Term Bases
- 39. Does This Really Work? • Midsized manufacturer in US & Europe – US: 3 writers, 1st translation company – Europe: 1 writer, 2nd translation company – Growing translation need from new client – Already used Lean in manufacturing processes • Implemented Simplified Technical English (STE) • Consolidated spend to single translation partner • Performed minimal translation memory clean-up & created Spanish term base
- 40. $300K/yr to $100K/yr ($20K saved 1st 8 months)
- 41. Turn Translation from a Cost Center into a Profit Driver terenabell@ineverylanguage.com @InEveryLanguage
Editor's Notes
- Intro Note presentation style/questions Tweet
- the identification of waste; the specification of the value stream; the achievement of flow through the process; pacing by a pull signal; and the continuous pursuit of perfection. Like Lean better—makes more sense to me, better defined parameters, less ambiguity (what does control even mean? Why is it at the end? Shouldn’t controlling things come first?) Going to swap back & forth between two –not a Six Sigma/Lean expert but a translation expert so looking at how trans can conform to greater ideas of both
- Both
- Like how Lean decides to get it done – must have purpose, people & process – this is where translation comes in
- Start w purpose Ask audience What do you want to get out of it? What are your KPIs for success? Never translate blindly—you’ll get what you pay for: blind results
- 79.49%, 71.43%, 71.43%, 69.39%
- What isn’t measured is harder to obtain – how do we “seek perfection” if we don’t even know what perfection is –what are your goals, why do you translate?
- Now to people: Ask audience
- Here who our client contacts are – Sometimes techcomm
- marcomm
- HR
- Web designer
- Graphic designer
- Sales
- C-suite --- or, God forbid, sometimes it happens:
- The Intern First Six Sigma step is defined Does that look defined to you? We can’t “map the value” stream if we don’t even know who works along it – if we don’t know who to talk to, If buying isn’t pseudo-centralized among 1 or a handful of depts you will never be able to mitigate risk in your buying product and turn translation from a cost center into a profit driver
- Had asked who handles now before, but should ask “Ask “Who SHOULD handle translation?” – I advocate for an appointed person who may not do all the work but is designated by the co to handle questions that reach across multiple areas of translation, for ex a preferred word that will be used in techcomm, marcomm, by mult areas – needs to have internal buy=in & support for change management implimenting healthy trans processes requires, but also know enough about the writing to field questions from LSP, also LSP needs direct contact w writers even if they’re not decision makers to eliminate error in trans (misunderstanding) as well as to impliment improvement (if writers never know writing is unclear, they won’t get better-central contact may just answer question/clarify but not pass fact it was asked along, this also would create more work for that person to do)
- Ask audience 2 answers: clients, employees, gov’t regulation folks (customs, environmental inspectors, etc) ALSO Spain, France, Mexico, etc
- You can’t just say “Spanish speaking audience” – which country 38 words
- Generic Spanish, universal Spanish, and US Spanish don’t exist
- Not just Spanish - American that I am, I keep a spare tire in my car trunk. But a Brit would put her tyre in the boot. Try to put a tire into one of my boots owe me a new pair of Pradas. Language varies from country to country. So tell us which dialect. And if you’re translating your site for Portugal, know you very likely may have to translate it again for Brazil.
- When we know the purpose and the people, we’ve already settled translation’s role in “define” – by looking at the who, we’re already figuring out the how -- before we can help you, we need to know what’s going on & why who is doing it
- Now focus on process
- Let’s look at Measure
- Translation Memory (WordFast) – 4 & 7 are partial matches, entered below Can be from individual words to complete sentences to entire paragraphs How is this measure? It tells us how many words we’re really working with – look at TM not as measuring words so much as time, how much time will it take us to translate: speeds up turnaround, lowers cost Over time, the cost savings can be thousands to millions (DRINK RESPONSIBLY). As an example, In Every Language clients save 25% off the base rate per word for partial matches to the TM, while full TM matches are discounted at 50%. Also prevents future error—once a word has been approved you never have to discuss it again
- What’s in the TM lives in the TM, so if it’s wrong it stays wrong – Dell stuck using bad translations over & over because the errors were too deeply embedded in too many docs to fix, cost would have outweighed Point of Six Sigma & Lean are both to eliminate error, Lean seeks perfection – freezing bad words is far from that Measure includes sorting out the good of prior trans from the bad so bad not used again
- Analyze
- Style guide – Smartling only tool I’ve seen where integrated, not sep doc Includes instructions on tone & level of formality to use. Ex, in English only use one “you”- in Spanish “tú” “usted” vos, vosotros - singular or plural, formal or informal. Instructions on what should & shouldn’t be translated Detailed instructions on colloquialisms & idioms Whether company will localize the actual name of its product or leave in English – same for slogan. Style guides reduce error & introduce marketing & language consistency across cultures - Lay’s Potato Chips “Chipsy” in Egypt, Arabic word made up from English word “chips” that communicates essence of product.
- Provide the appropriate units of measurement, containing conversions if necessary -- American 12oz. can of Coke becomes 355ml in Europe and Middle East Note on ICR: beauty in eye of beholder – reviewer should match your actual audience – bilingual secretary is from diff country, sales/distributor might have diff ed level
- Context from the style guide keeps this from happening
- Improve
- Glossary & Term base (Transifex) – pretty much same thing, glossary includes part of speech & defining info as needed - poss to do first but more costly that way, more than you need because don’t know which terms to do yet, why falls under improve
- Maintenance on TM like maintenance on your car
- Control – were goals met? Where KPIs reached? Have sales increased, has safety improved? Why important to set goals at beginning, so know if met in end And if they’re not met?
- Go back to the source – garbage in, garbage out Controlled english reduces translation costs (fewer words to translate PLUS more TM matches) – improves consistency, lowers turnaround time Goals not met? Still have errors? Go back to the source & start over
- Minimal TM clean-up was mainly ditching old memories from pre-STE source & poor translations by European trans partner
- I feel like Monty Hall Top figure projected spend/actual – able to start putting difference into translating website, which creates more revenue (cost center to profit driver)