Translation Quality Management: A Holistic Approach
Translation quality management can be a rather confusing subject due to the lack of unique and standard terminology. For example, in ordinary quality management (i.e. ISO9000s), quality assurance (QA) is “part of quality management focused on providing confidence that quality requirements will be fulfilled” (ISO 9000:2005, 3.2.11), and focuses on preventing errors and defects. Quite differently, what is generally called QA in the translation industry is in fact a quality control (QC) task, very similar to the one that used to take place in an...
read moreKPIs for the Translation Business: A Brief Intro
In a previous blog post, we discussed how to turn your translation (project) data into business analytics (BA). This time we want to provide suggestions for developing your own key performance indicators (KPIs). KPIs are essential to tracking your business performance and monitoring progress toward your goals. But choosing the right KPIs is not always easy. So, let’s see what KPIs are, why they’re so important, and how to choose them. A Few Things to Know About KPIs KPIs are measures of the performance of a company, its activities, its...
read moreA Data-driven Approach to Translation Vendor Management
Have you ever asked yourselves how a translation vendor differs from a vendor in other industries? Let’s tackle this question from two different perspectives. Consider first the perspective of a company outside the translation industry: A company conducts procurement activities for both products and services as well as staff recruitment activities. The procedure for product and service procurement is different from the one for staff recruitment, but both respond to the same goal of finding the best resources to fulfill the company mission. In...
read moreTransforming Translation Data Into Business Analytics: An Overview
Is data the new oil, the fuel of the future? If you agree with this, then the next question will inevitably be: Is data going to make you rich? Probably not. But it may help you improve your business performance if you learn how to put it to good use. To discover how, let’s enter the world of business analytics, and see what translation departments/agencies can do with their translation data. What Are Business Analytics? The term “business analytics” refers to all the skills, technologies, applications, and methods that allow you to measure...
read more[#SmartReads 4-2018] Summer’s Back
![[#SmartReads 4-2018] Summer’s Back](https://massardo.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/IMG_20141123_173435-184x184.jpg)
#SmartReads 4-2018 on the Translation Industry. Now that summer is back, here are some articles and podcasts for you to enjoy while you’re at the seaside. Let’s be honest, the sound of the waves, the warm air, and the soft sand combined create the perfect conditions for relaxing with some good reading material. Of course, these #SmartReads work quite well also in the countryside or on the top of a mountain. First things first I published two new articles on the WordBee blog: – Transforming Translation Data into Business...
read moreHow to Survive Technological Hypes
This article was originally published on the WordBee Blog. Neural networks, neural machine translation, speech-to-speech technology, blockchain, translator implants in our brains, automated interpreting, mind reading computers, digital twins, ambient intelligence. In one word: artificial intelligence. Are all these technologies hypes that will deflate in time? Or will they become relevant to our business? How to Spot a Hype As language professionals, we turned first to a dictionary for a definition of the word “hype”. This is what...
read moreGDPR: What’s the Commotion All About?
This article was originally published on the WordBee Blog. Does Y2K Ring a Bell? Where were you on January 1st, 2000, at 00:00 AM? I was switching on my computer to see whether it would still be working. Like many others, I was scared that, because of the Y2K, the global ICT infrastructures (including my humble desktop) would collapse in the first few minutes of the year 2000 and society would descend into chaos. In the end, Jan. 1, 2000 went by rather quietly. Y2K turned out to be a bit of a damp squib, but it was a golden bowl for...
read more[#SmartReads 3-2018] The second sneak preview
#SmartReads 3-2018 on the Translation Industry. The March issue of this newsletter contained a sneak preview about the Translation Technology Summer 2018. Here comes another announcement. Build the Foundation Meeting The Luxembourg-based translation technology provider WordBee is organizing a user meeting in Brussels on May 30, 2018. They have a great program with two tracks, one centered around the numerous functionalities of the WordBee platform and one with presentations by various experts. The WordBee team has kindly invited me to join a...
read more[#SmartReads 2-2018] What’s coming
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Hello, Here it is: #SmartReads 2-2018 on the Translation Industry. I skipped the February newsletter because there are few interesting things in the pipeline. I am going to write about them very soon. For the time being I am going to give you just one small sneak preview… Keep reading. Sneak Preview: Translation Technology for the Summer 2018 The International Summer School for Translation Technology, organized by the Belgian university KU Leuven, is now in its 3rd edition and will take place from Sep. 3 to Sep. 7, 2018. It’s a...
read moreBest of Translation Fun –
#SmartReads on the Translation Industry 1-2018. Downloads Galore During the Christmas break, I took some time to write a couple of documents. They were meant initially for my clients, but after feedback from some colleagues, I’ve decided to make them widely available. First of all, I put together a Cheat Sheet on translation project management because, despite today’s most sophisticated translation management systems, it still pays to take the basics into account. You can download the Cheat Sheet here. Also, in the last four...
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