One Hour Translation Blog

The dictionary definition of the word centralization is “it is the process by which the activities of an organization become concentrated within a particular location and/or group”. This concept of centralization is more relevant today in the face of increased globalization of companies today than ever before. It is particularly relevant to the activity of translation in order to maintain consistency as well as lower overall cost of translation.

Facing intense competition, companies like those in finance and insurance are increasingly globalizing their operations by opening offices in other countries where business opportunities abound. While doing so they cannot ignore the linguistic diversity of those countries where the language used is different from the ‘native’ language of the company. There is enormous need to do business in the local tongue in order capture the market.

The global market place in theory promises to be a source of untapped markets and unlimited sales. But if the translation projects are mismanaged, it can become a very unwelcome place. Horror stories like huge budget overruns, product recalls, lost market share etc are commonplace triggered by translation errors and translation delays resulting in inability to market in time.

In a decentralized environment, each branch office operates as a compartment in itself. This can result in a patchwork of different suppliers, processes, quality levels, translation styles, rate per word etc. This arrangement can work fine if the operations are small and translation volumes low. But once the business reaches a critical mass, it becomes necessary to conserve resources, avoid duplication of work and save on costs. If there is no centralized translation strategy, the companies soon realize that the return on the global expansion is rather low and the processes inefficient.

If the translation assets of a company are centrally stored, it can leverage them to maintain consistency while saving on cost. Assets like translation memory, glossary, artwork, templates, previous translations etc. if made globally made available, one need not re-invent the content during localization. Many companies have evolved their own well defined processes in order to overcome the translation hurdle in what can be called ‘translation management systems’ (TMS)

A centralized translation memory stored on a common server is part of the TMS strategy. It houses previous translations, glossary (terminology database), workflow engine; cost estimation tools etc. and can be accessed by other desktops used by translators. The translation memory is constantly updated with new translation after it has been tested and accepted by the editors.

Some of the advantages of centralizing translation process other than saving on cost by minimizing duplicate effort and better consistency include continued improvement of the translation process. By putting into place proper documentation, and auditing of the translation activities one can achieve long term success. It is easier to meet industry quality standards like those of American Translators Association for example by centralizing the process. In short, centralizing the translation process offers enormous benefits to companies going global if implemented properly.