In-Country Review (ICR) with a TMS: A Strategy for LSPs

给语言服务提供商的策略:用翻译管理系统进行国内审查

2020-10-21 22:30 Wordbee Translator

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If I were to ask, “Do LSPs play a role in in-country review?” you would probably reply with another question, “Why are you asking this?” Translation buyers that choose an in-country review usually have local offices branches or representatives in specific countries to whom they can entrust this task. And these buyers are typically large organizations. So, how can LSPs contribute to an efficient in-country review? In-country review within the localization workflow   In a previous article we wrote that, from the perspective of a translation buyer, the in-country review is an extra step in the localization workflow. It’s also important to note that an in-country review comes with a significant cost because it makes the already laborious TEP workflow longer and because, if not conducted correctly, it might not sort out the expected results. Nevertheless, the in-country review may be deemed as a necessary step to make sure that the localized content doesn’t just comply with locales and local conventions, but it is also aligned with the organization’s national/regional marketing policies. Think, for example, of the hyper-localization strategy by Coca Cola to sell its products on the Indian market. Oftentimes a large organization entrusts the in-country review to its local subject–matter experts or sales/marketing department employees, who may not be happy to be loaded with some extra (and apparently irrelevant) work. Here things could get messy: A translator or reviewer looks at the written content based on grammar, terminology, style and so on, without any specific knowledge of the product or the regional market; on the other hand, a local subject-matter expert or a marketing/sales representative could ignore aspects such as the localization requirements or a specific house style dictated by the translation buyer. To prevent a potential mishap, it is important to set and communicate the predefined localization requirements to all parties involved. In this respect, we recommend creating a localization kit.  Things could get even messier. For example, there could also be the case of a large organization that doesn’t necessarily have regional branches and staff with the knowledge and the ability to conduct in-country reviews. What the organization in question might consider, though, is the option of working with a local agent (for example, a representative from the sales network) who will take on this task. In turn, this local agent could select a local LSP and entrust them tasks like review, back translation, and/or linguistic evaluation. These are steps that play a significant role in the life science sector, within the localization of medical devices, pharmaceuticals, and clinical trials. It’s exactly at this point that an LSP making use of the right technology can play an efficient and crucial role. TMS as an assembly point Let’s suppose we follow a traditional localization workflow: a multi-language vendor (MLV) sends the localization project to its trusted single language vendors (SLVs). In turn, the SLVs send the project to the freelancers. Once the freelancers send the completed project back to base (i.e. to the MLV via the various SLVs), the localized content can be delivered to the customer and assigned for in-country review either to the client’s subject-matters experts or to a chosen representative working with a local LSP. The translation management system (TMS) becomes then the convergence point of all tasks, a combination of knowledge and collaboration.  The content of the localization project never leaves the TMS. It is simply made available, simultaneously, to all parties involved, i.e. the translation buyer, its representative(s), the MLV(s) and SLVs and the freelancers.  Bringing order into a complex localization workflow There are a few strategies to be considered to make sure an LSP can run a smooth in-country review in an already complex (and sometimes messy) workflow.  First of all, data centralization within the TMS, i.e. the efficient use and management of data, is crucial, because it helps both translation buyers and LSPs to improve on workflows and final results. The TMS needs to be integrated within the translation workflow and not the other way around. For this reason, the TMS must be flexible and adaptable to all the existing business processes. For example, the localization workflow should be set based on the content typology and project requisites. It’s paramount to collect a localization kit within the TMS. A localization kit will consist of the following: Localization project requirements Guidelines for localization and review One or more style guides, for example, the translation buyer’s style guide and the MLV translation style guide Well-maintained translation memories and termbases. Centralized translation memories and terminology databases can be verified, approved, and updated in real time, saving time, and preventing inconsistencies. Other reference material deemed useful Customizable quality assurance (QA) tools should be made available to all parties. Suppliers’ QA checks at various stages of the workflow can help catch any problem or issue before it happens.  During the linguistic review/evaluation step the person responsible should have the option of leaving comments on a segment level or on a general level, to which every person involved in the localization project should have access (possibly in real-time). A sentiment analysis option could be a nice extra.
如果我问:“语言服务提供商(LSP)在国内审查(ICR)中起作用吗?”你可能会用另一个问题回应我:“你为什么这么问?”选择ICR的翻译买家通常在特定国家有自己信任的当地办事处,分支机构或代表,他们可以放心地把任务委托给这些机构或是代表。而且这些翻译买家通常都是大型机构。那么,LSP是如何提高ICR效率的呢? 本地化工作流程中的ICR 之前有一篇文章中写道,从翻译买家的角度来看,ICR是本地化工作流程中额外的一个步骤。需要指出,由于ICR会令已经很费力的TEP的工作流程变得更长,所以成本很高,这也是很重要的一点。如果操作不当,可能无法达成预期的结果。 然而,要确保本地化内容不仅符合当地惯例,还要与组织的国家/区域营销政策一致,大家可能会认为国内审查是一个必要的步骤。比如说可口可乐在印度市场销售产品的超级本地化战略。 一般情况下,大型组织会将ICR委托给其当地的主题专家或销售/市场部门雇员,但这些人可能不愿意承担一些额外(而且显然与他们不相关的)工作。 从这里开始,事情可能就一团糟了:一方面,在没有任何产品或区域市场专业知识的情况下,译者或者审稿人就根据语法、术语、风格等对书面内容进行评审;另一方面,当地的主题专家或市场/销售代表可能忽略某些方面的内容,比如本地化要求或翻译买方指定的特定房屋风格等。为了防止潜在的事故,设置预定义的本地化需求并将其传达给相关各方是很重要的。对于这个问题,我们建议创建一个本地化工具包。 事情还可能会变得更糟。比如说,有时大型组织未必有区域分支机构,也不一定有具备进行国内审查的知识和能力的工作人员。不过,有关组织可能会考虑选择与当地代理(例如,销售网络的代表)合作,让他们承担这项任务。反过来,当地代理又可以选择本地的LSP,并把评审、回译、语言评估等任务委托给他们。在生命科学领域、医疗设备、药品和临床试验的本地化方面,这些步骤发挥着重要作用。 这种情况下,利用正确技术的LSP的确可以发挥高效关键的作用。 作为集合点的翻译管理系统(TMS) 假设我们遵循一个传统的本地化工作流程:多语言供应商将本地化项目发送给了自己信任的单语言供应商。单语言供应商又反过来把项目发给了自由译者。自由译者一旦将完成的项目发发回基地(即通过各个单语言供应商发送给多语言供应商),本地化的内容就可以发给客户,并分配给客户的主题专家或者选定的本地语言服务提供商工作的代表进行国内审查。 翻译管理系统(TMS)则成为所有任务的汇聚点,是知识和协作的结合。 本地化项目的内容离不开TMS。有关各方,即翻译买方及其代表、MLV和SLV以及自由职业者很容易就可以使用翻译管理系统。 让复杂的本地化工作流程有序进行 要确保LSP在已经复杂(有时甚至混乱)的工作流程中顺利运行第三方评审,有一些策略需要考虑。 首先,TMS内部的数据集中化即数据的有效使用和管理至关重要,它有助于翻译购买者和LSP改进工作流程,达到最终目标。 TMS需要与翻译工作流程相融合。因此,TMS必须灵活并且要能够适应所有现有的业务流程。例如,本地化工作流的设置应该以内容类型和项目需求为基础。 首要的就是TMS中收集本地化工具包。本地化工具包将包括以下内容: 本地化项目要求 本地化和审查指南 一个或多个风格指南。例如,翻译购买者风格指南和多语言服务提供商翻译风格指南。 维护良好的翻译记忆和术语库。集中的翻译存储器和术语数据库可以实时验证,批准和更新,节省时间,并防止不一致。 其他认为有用的参考资料 应向所有各方提供可定制的质量保证(QA)工具。供应商在工作流程各个阶段的QA检查可以在任何问题发生之前捕捉到他们。 在语言审查/评估步骤中,所有人都有访问(可能是实时访问)权限的部分级别或一般级别,负责人应该有评论权限。情绪分析也可能是个不错的选择。

以上中文文本为机器翻译,存在不同程度偏差和错误,请理解并参考英文原文阅读。

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