Building a firm foundation

Print industry case study

Challenge

EFI (Electronics for Imaging) have grown rapidly since their foundation in 1989 with a current market capitalization value of US$1.3 billion.

EFI have regular, ongoing requirements for the translation of marketing collateral to support new product and system launches. Core languages for EFI include French, German, Italian, Spanish and Dutch. www.efi.com

Approach and solution

EFI operates its own graphic design department in the UK. Source files are supplied from the United States in InDesignTM or QuarkXPressTM and EFI supplies Lloyd International Translations (LIT) with extracted text in Microsoft WordTM format.

LIT analyse the files using Translation Memory among other tools and technologies to identify matching text and repetitions between and within projects. The files are then translated and independently proofread by the preferred translators with excellent subject matter expertise and copywriting skills. Approved glossaries are used during the translation process to ensure consistency and accuracy.

On completion of the translations the files are forwarded to the local EFI in-country reviewer for sign-off. Following their approval, the translated Microsoft WordTM files are sent to EFI who carry out the post-translation DTP, providing fully formatted, print-ready files.

Results and benefits

Since the start of this highly effective collaboration EFI and LIT have worked hand in hand, enabling LIT’s translators and Project Managers to build a sound and thorough understanding of EFI’s requirements. Style guides have been jointly developed together with comprehensive glossaries to identify and capture key linguistic preferences and preferred terminology.

LIT’s client gateway has been invaluable to EFI, enabling them to send new projects for quotation, upload and download files and track the status of all projects at any time.

LIT’s highly responsive service, flexibility and the direct relationship with the reviewers have promoted open channels of communication; as a result, EFI’s reviewers now spend far less time reviewing and more time marketing!

In total almost 1.5 million words of marketing collateral have been translated during the last year (brochures, sales guides, datasheets, flyers, presentations and press releases). This year will see the launch of a multilingual EFI website.

“LIT delivers on what other translation vendors only promise in their glossy brochures: They have a very good handle on their translation memory and glossaries. Once a sentence has been translated by them, we can rely on the fact that we pay only a discounted or no rate on this sentence if it shows up in the next job - this is of incredible value for us since we need to update materials frequently with the launches of new software versions. LIT has done a great job for us in bringing down translation costs.” Oliver Lüdtke - Outbound Marketing Europe Manager, EFI.