Machine translation success story

Situation

A leading Canadian wholesale distributor to plumbing, HVAC/R, waterworks and industrial markets partnered with Acclaro for large volume product translation that needed to be completed quickly. Additionally, the client wanted to ensure that the translations accurately conveyed product content.

Faced with requirements around speed, volume and translation quality, Acclaro determined the best solution was to use its expert team of linguists in tandem with adaptive machine translation (MT) to meet the client’s goals. By incorporating adaptive MT into the translation workflow, we were able to speed up the translation process twofold and therefore decrease time to market.

Challenge

Before working with Acclaro, the client used internal translation resources. But due to the lack of in-house expertise and sheer bandwidth, they decided to work with a partner that has experience in deploying MT solutions needed for ongoing, large volume translation projects like this.

The following challenges had to be managed:

• Ability to translate a large volume of client-facing content (product catalog) in a short amount of time
• Budget requirements
• Maintain translation quality regardless of volume being translated

Solutions

We worked closely with the client to assess their needs and evaluate the options. Based on the content, the client’s target languages and the relatively tight deadline, the decision was made to deploy human translation by professional linguists enhanced by adaptive machine translation (MT).

Acclaro was able to quickly scale a team of 25 vetted, expert translators experienced with adaptive MT for the project. The content translation process was enhanced by:

• A translation memory (TM) tool to process repeated content. This allows for cost savings because when a word, phrase or sentence is repeated, Acclaro can pull the word vs. having it repeatedly translated over and over again. It can also speed up the translation process and enhance consistency.
• An adaptive MT solution to support translation productivity. With adaptive machine translation, the machine learns from edited translation input on the fly so translation projects can be delivered faster and typically at lower costs.

Highlights & results

Local client representatives were very pleased with Acclaro’s translation quality. The client as a whole was delighted that we were able to meet their budget and strict schedule for releasing the product catalog.

One of the considerations when deciding on an MT solution is the content type. For the translation of the client’s product catalog, Acclaro made the decision to use adaptive machine translation along with its team of veteran linguists. While MT can handle the large volume of content in a shorter period of time, Acclaro’s expert linguists could focus on ensuring the final product was of the highest quality possible.

When using MT along with expert linguists, results like this project can be obtained:

• A large volume translated in a relatively short period of time: 3.5 million words in 2.5 months resulting in faster time to market for the client
• Machine translation allowed for content to be turned around quickly without sacrificing quality

To learn how Acclaro’s can help you scale with a machine translation approach, contact us today!