GENERAL ELECTRIC OEC MEDICAL SYSTEMS AND MULTILING CORPORATION

CASE STUDY

MultiLing Translation Helps GE OEC Medical Systems Achieve High-Quality Translation Service at Less Than GE In-house Translation Cost

June 14, 2002
For Immediate Release

General Electric OEC Medical Systems with the professional services of MultiLing is able to translate at higher quality and lower cost than GE's in-house translation service. GE Medical Systems engaged Provo, Utah-based MultiLing, the regions premier language technology and services company to perform translation, globalization and localization services. MultiLing's services provide a seamless language conversion for GE Medical Systems to continue global operations.

GE Medical Systems (www.gemedicalsystems.com) is an $8 billion global leader in medical imaging, interventional procedures, healthcare services, and information technology. Its offerings include networking and productivity tools,
clinical information systems, patient monitoring systems, surgery and vascular imaging, conventional and digital X-ray, computed tomography, electron beam tomography, magnetic resonance, ultrasound and bone mineral densitometry, positron emission tomography, nuclear medicine, and a comprehensive portfolio of clinical and business services. For more than 100 years, health care providers worldwide have relied on GE Medical Systems or high quality medical technology and productivity solutions.

Operating in more than 100 countries, GE produces aircraft engines, locomotives and other transportation equipment, appliances, lighting, electric distribution and control equipment, generators and turbines, nuclear reactors, medical imaging equipment, and plastics. It has financial services - GE Capital Services - as well as the NBC television network. With 2001 revenues at $125.9 billion, GE has the breadth, depth and resources of a small country.

As a part of that 'small country', GE Medical Systems realized its additional challenge to provide medical system solutions to GE's global audience. With the medical industry so highly monitored by governmental regulations and requirements for specific wording, it was critical for GE Medical Systems to have seamless translation quality that transcends languages, cultures and regions. Medical language solutions would require fluency in three languages: the primary language, the secondary language and the language of medicine.

GE OEC Medical Systems enlisted MultiLing to carry out the translation services. Paul Rushton, Translation Coordinator for GE OEC Medical Systems, handles the difficult task of GE's global translations and price comparisons.

"OEC is kind of a unique company," said Rushton. "Being such a large company GE has extensive internal resources - it's like a small country. We have our own in-house translation center in France but MultiLing is able to beat the prices we are able to get internally...and they're faster."

"Their software for translation memory and comparison of files is really outstanding and the consistency among translations is so strong," Rushton continued. "Particularly in medical stuff because you're meeting demands for governments all over the world. Our manuals need to meet those standards and we've always done that while meeting the consistency we require among our products and among the various languages."

"We've been able to do some incredible things," said Rushton. "The Holy Grail in translation is to release all the documentation internationally at the same time you release it in the US. I've worked on it for years, and have finally achieved it several times here. When you're working with a worldwide company, it really helps to have worldwide documentation, but it almost never happens. Most of the software industry builds in extra time to accomplish the feat. They either delay their release in English or delay the international versions."

Rushton has been working with MultiLing since the late 80's, early 90's while working at Iomega. Iomega was going international with several projects and needed to find translating companies.

"We searched all over the U.S. and MultiLing had the expertise we were looking for," said Rushton. "They had certified translators, which were fairly uncommon at the time. Their prices were competitive so we went with them."

"When I came to GE, they were already working with MultiLing," Rushton continued. "They had also done a national search and had chosen them. We both chose them and so we continue to go with them. I have to send out a bid occasionally, but they're always right there. Their service is just great. We have always had very good reviews on their translations. People who use our products overseas are always quite happy - the comments have always been very good."

GE Medical Systems' manuals are anywhere from 300-600 pages and are translated in 7 languages: Spanish, French, German, Italian, Brazilian Portuguese, Simplified Chinese (Mainland China) and Japanese.

"MultiLing will have the complete translation done in 6-8 weeks for all seven languages," said Rushton. "They can do the languages in parallel. The translators are native speakers."

"Whenever I run across clients or contracts I do, I send them to MultiLing," said Rushton. "They're willing to do the work and they do a great job. They're very customer centered and customer oriented."

In today's economy, most businesses don't have the in-house resources to meet their needs - these businesses have turned to outsourcing. Despite their own in-house translation center, GE Medical Systems outsources because of the success and cost effectiveness of MultiLing's translation services. This allows GE Medical Systems to continue operating at a global level with seamless transition between languages and cultures while concentrating on integrated clinical workflow solutions.

Businesses can save time and money by concentrating on their core competencies while outsourcing non-principal tasks to companies such as MultiLing that provide the professional language services with extensive resources.

Founded in 1987 as a paper-based translations bureau, MultiLing has developed into an experienced provider of language technology and services. With complete integration of its multilingual assets and cutting-edge linguistic technology, MultiLing is a full-service language and globalization services company for businesses expanding into multilingual markets. Marketing the Transit and TermStar product family - products that have redefined computer-assisted translation, MultiLing has become the regions premier language technology and services company.

The company prepares products and documentation for international use - translating marketing materials, training videos, user manuals, and Web-based content. In addition, the company provides product certification and testing services to ensure quality in Web sites, software applications, and hardware. For more information, visit the MultiLing Web site: http://www.multiling.com

Copyright 2002 MultiLing. All rights reserved.

Company Contact:
Emmanuel Margetic
MultiLing
T) 801.377.2200
emargetic@multiling.com

Agency Contact
Cheryl Snapp & Reed Peterson
Meservy Wing Snapp
T) 801.434.4440
C) 801.369.0969
csnapp@mwsagency.com
rpeterson@mwsagency.co