Technical Translations

Translation of Technical Manuals Relating to Air Pump for Chemical Mixing, Steam Turbine System, Lube Oil, Closed Cooling Water Pump, Compressed Air System, Overhead Crane, Auxiliary Boiler, Gas System, etc. (Since December 2010)

Why HQ-Translators?

This client approached HQ-Translators for 3 main reasons:

• Firstly, their budget was particularly tight as it was the end of year already and they had almost nothing left in their coffers
• Secondly, they wanted their project to be handled by a team of professionals who work on a regular and daily basis and know all the intricacies related to the translation business
• Thirdly, the client needed a language service provider who was flexible both in terms of deadline and payment terms.

Background

Our client’s client is an American multinational giant operating through the following segments: Power & Water, Oil and Gas, Transportation, Automotive, Software Development, Engineering Industries, etc. Translation is an important service to this company, as they use it to have their user manuals and brochures translated in order to be able to sell their products worldwide.

The Challenge

We had to translate 80,000 words within 5 days. Being unavailable for the weekend, we actually had 3 days since the client sent the project on Friday at the end of the day. In addition to the tight deadline, another challenge was the format of the files. As a matter of fact, the files received were in Tag editor, which was quite difficult to handle when it came to sharing. With 10 in-house translators to translate, edit and proofread this project, we had to deploy a strategy to be able to meet our client’s expectations.

How HQT Helped

The first thing HQ-Translators did was convert the files to a format that could be shared among many linguists. Next, we had to see how many people were needed to cover this project, within the tight deadline we had. In other words, we needed to translate 80,000 words within 3 days while making sure there was no compromise whatsoever regarding the quality of the final product. To address this issue, we selected 20 freelance translators (all of them professional and regular collaborators, each translating 2,000 words per day) and 10 additional freelance translators with the same background to edit (4,000 words per day for each editor) the translated output. As for the 10 in-house linguists who make up the staff of HQ-Translators, 8 were handpicked to proofread the final product to ensure the target language read smoothly, naturally, and easily.

The Result

Three days later, by the end of business, we had successfully finished the translation, the editing, and the proofreading. The files were converted back to the client’s initial tag editor and delivered to him along the translation memory we also transformed into a glossary at his request for him to use. The client was happy since he replied favourably regarding the feedback and later on paid for it within 60 days (during this period, he had enough time to check and recheck to make sure all was ok, before he could pay)as agreed without any problem.

Translating Users’ Guides and Instruction Books for a Household Equipment Giant Since February 2011

Why HQ-Translators?

After checking our credentials, having us sign a non-disclosure agreement and getting us to accept the condition that a payment will not be made if the quality is not up to their expectations, this customer still required us to do a sample test for them, free of charge. For a first collaboration, nothing could be more normal than this. We took up the test, they found what they were looking for and the story of our collaboration started.

The Customer’s Background

The end client is a home appliances manufacturing company specialised in electronics including major household appliances. With a significant share in the European market of consumer electronics and home appliances, this company is one of the largest TV manufacturers in both Europe and America with thousands of domestic equipment sold to date in areas such as TV sets, washing machines, blenders, cookers, ovens, refrigerators, freezers, shaving devices, etc.

The Challenge

To communicate efficiently in this globalised world, ideas have to be expressed clearly for their target audiences to understand them properly. If this is true for the translator, it is also true for the source file, which equally has to be written clearly. Some clients are aware that the text they provide for translation has not been written properly. It was the case for this client of ours and appropriate measures were taken accordingly.

How We Helped

In his Art Poétique, Boileau lays down the sine qua non condition for a good writing style. According to him, “An idea well conceived presents itself clearly, and words to express it come readily.’’ This assertion also holds true in translation in the sense that in order to be done properly so as to reflect the source from which it was generated, the linguist should understand the intended message in its entirety to be able to express it clearly, efficiently, and naturally. With this in mind, we would not hesitate to get back to a client with a query sheet in which we would put all the questions, hesitations, suggestions, as well as any unclear aspects. The client would then get back to us with clarifications which would then enlighten us better and help us express the intended idea in an unambiguous way.

The source message would then go across and the client would then have efficiently passed the message across to the target audience.

The Result

The achievement was satisfactory to the client’s point of view. The fact that we drew her attention to some unclear parts in the source text helped her go back to that source and make the necessary corrections as well. The client highly appreciated this feedback since it helped her proofread her source. This way, with our language services, she could kill two birds with one stone.