Do you have a ton of technical documents that need translation in Chinese?
Did you know that a good translation project management can keep your costs down while maintaining a consistent, high-quality standard?
Well, let me share with you one of our experiences with a mature buyer of translation service in the mechanical engineering industry. Here’s how we helped our client achieve the goal, increased productivity, and overcame translation hurdles during the process.
If you ever missed some of the blog posts I’ve written on how we helped clients save thousands of dollars from a rush translation of legal documents to day to day mechanical engineering translation projects, I encourage you to read more if you’re thinking to work with us.
READ MORE >>>Quality Matters: How Much Does a Book Translation in Chinese Cost?
The Client’s Challenge
Our client approached us through our website, frustrated with their current Chinese translation service provider. Their issues included:
- Declining translation quality over time.
- Frequent miscommunication.
- Repeated errors in submissions.
In short, their experience was painful, and they were seeking a reliable solution.
Initial Communication and Confidentiality
After a brief conversation via website chat, we signed a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) to ensure complete confidentiality. The client then shared several documents, including:
- Three technical handbooks requiring translation from English to Simplified Chinese.
- A translation memory from their current provider to use as a reference.
The client specifically requested a professional Chinese translator with expertise in mechanical engineering.
Maintaining Client Confidentiality
Note: Due to the NDA, we cannot disclose the client’s identity.
Free Test Translation: Try Before You Order
Understanding Quality Expectations
To align with the client’s quality expectations, we offered two free test translations performed by:
- Class A Translator: 16 years of technical translation experience, specialized in mechanical engineering.
- Class B Translator: 5 years of technical translation experience, also familiar with the field.
Client’s Decision
The client preferred the work of the Class A translator, as it required minimal editing on her part. However, her budget was limited, which added complexity to the decision-making process.
Finding the Right Balance
By offering flexibility and expertise, we aimed to resolve the client’s concerns and deliver high-quality translations tailored to their needs and budget.
AZ-Loc’s solution
As we carefully reviewed the documents she sent over, we concluded that they have a similar structure and the same content in bits and parts.These are known as internal repetitions, which can significantly streamline the translation process.
Additionally, the client mentioned having older versions of similar product lines. These resources can serve as valuable references to ensure consistency and efficiency in the translation work.
Alignment: take advantage of reference
Per our suggestion, the client provided us some previously done and approved translations (heavily edited by her side) along with their original English documents as our references.
With the documents, we can start turning something sitting on the drive into something valuable: by aligning original contents with translation, and we can easily create a translation memory that can spot every sentence that has been translated before and REUSE it for the new translation.
💯As we do not charge 100% matches, that means the client doesn’t have to pay for the same translation ever again.
The client also provided us a translation memory file obtained from the other provider, but not sure if it can serve as a reference. It contained some translation memory, which has not reflected the heavy editing yet. Also, it’s not in a standard translation memory format, which needs some rendering. Our project engineer managed to convert it into a workable file to help in the analysis.
💰Budget saver: see the power of translation memory
The total word count of the three documents is 48,681. However, with our efforts on building translation memory, the workload decreased to 21,117.7 words only, according to our analysis.
Which means we are well within her budget and she can have class A translator on board.
Wait a second. Why are there decimals in the calculation? You might ask.
Because unlike many translation companies charge you for full work scope, we weigh 0.1 for each internally repeated words or 0.3 to 1 for different values of matches when comparing the new documents with existing translation memory
Maintain translation memory
During the translation process, we found inconsistencies and even conflicting terms within their original translation memory. It seemed that their provider carelessly managed it. With the client’s consent, we fixed the issues.
After the client’s feedback session, we modified all places that client mentioned, reran QA check to ensure full implementation of changes. Then we updated the translation memory with the most up-to-date translation that has been approved by the client.
Result?
We completed the translation within ten working days, including translation done by class A translator, top to bottom proofreading, QA checking to catch and get rid of any inconsistency issue.
The client was happy to receive good quality translations back within the deadline and her budget.
She became one of our repeat clients, sending us frequent translation requests, for we make the best use of tools to help us stick with high standards without cost increase. On the contrary, we are decreasing translation costs in the long run.
Do You Want to Decrease Your Translation Spending, Too?
Let us help you save on translation costs without compromising quality. Contact our team today for a free consultation and learn how our cost-efficient strategies can work for your business.
We’re here to make your translation projects smooth, accurate, and affordable. Reach out to us now!
