MultiLing Works with Thermo Nicolet to Achieve High-Quality Scientific Translation

Case Study

August 21, 2002
For Immediate Release

Thermo Nicolet with the professional services of MultiLing is able to achieve a high quality and accurate scientific translation. Thermo Nicolet engaged Provo, Utah-based MultiLing, the region’s premier language technology and services company to perform translation, globalization and localization services. MultiLing’s services provide a seamless language conversion for Thermo Nicolet to continue global operations of its scientific instruments for infrared analysis.

Thermo Nicolet, a Thermo Electron business (NYSE:TMO), was founded in 1967 and is the leading manufacturer of Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) and Raman spectrometers, microscopes, sampling accessories, software, and spectral libraries. Thermo Nicolet has pioneered several new technologies and has been a continuous market innovator of new products, services, applications and marketing efforts. Its instruments are used throughout the chemical, pharmaceutical, polymer, petrochemical, food and, energy industries, as well as in government and university laboratories. Thermo Electron is a $2.2 billion provider of technology-based instruments, components, and systems that offer total solutions for markets ranging from life sciences to telecommunications to food, drug, and beverage production.

Thermo Nicolet realized its challenge to provide its complete line of spectroscopy products and solutions to its audience in nearly every worldwide market. Thermo Nicolet’s high-tech and advanced science language is difficult enough in English. The global translations would require translators to be fluent in three languages: the primary language, the secondary language and the language of the specific science.

It was critical for Thermo Nicolet to have seamless translation quality that transcends languages, cultures and regions with the high-tech and scientific industry so intensely monitored by governmental regulations and requirements for specific wording.

Additionally, to accomplish Thermo Nicolet’s objective of producing and printing translated items with the least amount of intervention, it would be necessary to: (1) have an accurate translation by a knowledgeable translator, (2) enlist a translation house that would take the translation and mirror-image it into Thermo Nicolet’s format, look and feel, and (3) receive files from the translation house that go directly from the desk to the printer.

Thermo Nicolet enlisted MultiLing to carry out the translation services. Mary Ellen Schutz, translation coordinator and senior technical writer for Thermo Nicolet, manages the difficult task of global translations and price comparisons for Thermo Nicolet's extensive documentation.

“We had a difficult time finding translation houses that were familiar with technical language – particularly the ‘hard’ science translations,” said Schutz. “It’s easy to find translation houses that can translate a business letter, but to find an organization that has the ability to discuss infrared spectroscopy for semiconductor analysis in Chinese is much more challenging.”

“As part of our selection process in finding a translation house, we ask candidates to translate a small portion of one of our safety manuals into the languages we use most often,” added Schutz. “We then send the translated documents to our in-country scientists and ask them to evaluate the quality and accuracy of the translation, and determine if it’s appropriate for a scientific audience. And naturally we look at pricing and compatibility.”

“MultiLing does very well,” Schutz continued. “They have the ability to find skilled translators in very specialized areas. We don’t find the high-level spectroscopist in Poland – they do. Additionally, the translation memory MultiLing uses has been extremely accurate for our purposes and has significantly expedited our turn-around time.”

Translation memory is a break-through technology, which allows translators to reuse past translations to enhance terminology and translation consistency. If many of the same words or phrases are used again, this memory progressively boosts the amount of text clients are able to translate for the same budget. MultiLing’s translation memory is based on the productivity software of two products originally developed for MultiLing’s internal needs, Transit and TermStar.
MultiLing’s technology, along with the language dictionaries and translation memory, allows a language professional to produce consistent, high-quality translations in a short amount of time. This technology, coupled with experienced in-country translators, and MultiLing’s familiarity with global regulatory standards, allowed MultiLing to accurately and rapidly translate the highly technical safety and regulatory material for Thermo Nicolet.

“Much of our equipment is sold in worldwide markets, and safety information needs to be available in the specific market languages in which it is used,” said Schutz. “We must comply with very strict and heavy regulations. And with many instruments on a factory floor operated by less than expertly trained scientists, language and instructional understanding becomes even more critical in order to avoid injuries. For example, the direct German translation of ‘purge gas’ – a term common to advanced science – is ‘dishwasher gas’. If you don’t have a scientist involved in the translation, you end up looking like a company that is technically incompetent.”

“Our subsidiaries have been much more impressed with the polished text they receive now as opposed to the text in the past,” Schutz continued. “Projects seem to flow together better and the consistency has increased. MultiLing has raised the bar and has offered us translation technology and services beyond any other firm’s we tested. MultiLing is cooperative and always willing to go the extra mile.”

In today’s world, many businesses are expanding beyond the borders into international markets. Such expansion requires translation between languages and cultures. These businesses have turned to outsourcing translation, particularly highly technical and scientific translations. Thermo Nicolet outsources to MultiLing because of the success, accuracy and cost effectiveness of the translation services. This allows Thermo Nicolet to continue operating at a global level with seamless transition between languages and cultures while concentrating on its FT-IR and Raman analytical instruments.

Businesses seeking to translate highly technical, scientific materials can save time and money by concentrating on their core competencies while outsourcing their translation needs 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