The best way to reduce translation costs

Carefully designed, well-written source content is quicker and cheaper to translate than poorly structured content. Word counts reduce, translator queries and review loops can be kept to a minimum, and this eliminates the cost of rework. Many traditional translation companies rarely consider helping their customers improve their source information because they make more profit from badly written, unstructured, and verbose content.

At 3di we recognise that technology alone will not save you money. The consultative approach we apply to our customers’ localization projects helps identify areas where productivity can be improved and costs can be reduced. Typical strategies might be:

• Single sourcing
• Applying a modular, structured writing approach such as Information Mapping®
• Implementing an XML-based information architecture
• Using SVG for image localization (XML graphics)

Beyond translation memory

'Translation memory' was a straightforward but effective technology that boosted productivity for translators and translation suppliers in the 1990s. However customers continue to demand more cost effective ways to translate and localize their products. At 3di we pride ourselves on our ability to move with the times, embracing new methods and tools to help us implement cost-effective language translation and localization solutions.