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Machine Translation Report
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Case study: MasterWord Inc., a global localization leader, recently completed a large Oil & Gas industry translation project using Memsource Cloud. Over 2.5 million words were translated and hundreds of images redrawn and localized.
MasterWord started using Memsource in 2013 for some of the works, gradually increasing in volume and number of users. With this project, however, Memsource became their mainstay server-based translation environment.
The end customer, an oil and gas company, required translating a large set of training materials for construction specialists in under four months. The bulk of this terminology-heavy material arrived in a print-ready InDesign format, along with digital supplements such as classroom materials and PowerPoint presentations.
The project was facing two technical challenges: firstly, some of the files were extremely large up to 1GB in size. This made it difficult to email the files and open them in translation editors. Also, there were hundreds of small files containing only a few lines of text. Translating them individually posed a dreary and puzzling task, while a lack of context increased the risk of making mistakes.
Secondly, the accompanying training materials fell under different subject areas, such as environment protection, safety, equipment operation, etc. Each had to be translated by a specific-industry specialist, which led to the need to hire a larger team. To complete the project on schedule, two project managers in charge of this assignment drew almost 50 freelance linguists and DTP specialists from a pool of verified contractors.**
Memsource was selected for its scalability
The project required a translation memory solution that would enable collaboration between a large group of translators and help maintain consistency in terminology across their outputs. Although MasterWord normally uses an array of tools, including SDL Trados and Atril Déjà vu, Memsource Cloud was selected for this particular project.
“We were looking for something easy to work with, software that the translators can just open and start translating right away, intuitively,” says Olga Daggs, the head of MasterWord’s translation division. She explained that the company had several considerations when selecting the technology, such as:
- Memsource allowed for linguists to work simultaneously with centralized translation memory/termbase and a real-time exchange of terms.
- Graphic formats such as .pptx and .idml could be translated directly, greatly reducing workload and cost of DTP.
- Cloud storage ensured easy access, eliminating the need to send files by email, especially those that were 1GB in size.
- A friendly interface reduced time and objections when introducing new translators to the technology.
- Project managers could monitor progress on a line-by-line basis.
- Memsource PM Suite visualized the project flow, facilitating scheduling files as assignments.
- The roles feature restricted permission to alter translation memory and termbases to terminologists only, thereby reducing the risk of introducing incorrect terms.
Ultimately, Memsource offered the best scalability and cost-effectiveness – it only took two project manager licenses to run a team of dozens of translators.
Solutions for terminology consistency and file size
Prior to translators being sent any work, the MasterWord team allocated two weeks for the terminology to be prepared. They uploaded source files, existing termbases and translation memory, and performed pre-translation. Its results were reviewed by the best linguists on the team, with the help of the customer’s in-house expert. Verified terms and segments were then locked from further editing.
These steps ensured that the majority of the terms was translated correctly and consistently across the entire project. It also eliminated the risks of translators who were translating the bulk of the material of making a terminology-related mistake. For terms missed in the first iteration, linguists were able to view each other’s work and coordinate at later stages in the project.
To deal effectively with file size, project managers used Memsource’s merge and split function. It allowed for separate large files to be broken down into manageable 100-mb parts. Small files were then fused together to form comprehensive modules with reference materials attached.
Results
The combination of advance terminology work and complete workflow with editing and proofreading allowed the MasterWord team to maintain term-consistency over 10,000 pages of specialized materials. Printed manuals and localized digital supplements were released on schedule, and the customer received quality materials to provide training in their target language.
MasterWord is currently using Memsource to manage a wide range of large-scale and minor translation projects.
_MasterWord is one of the top-50 global and top-10 North America language service providers. Based in Houston, Texas, USA, the company has massive experience in translations, interpreting, language training and other services for the energy sector. _www.masterword.com
