Case Study

GEA Convenience-Food Technologies Lifecycle Performance

Writing and translating manuals

GEA is a world-leading supplier of preparation, marinating, processing, slicing and packaging solutions, primary for the meat, poultry, fish, seafood and cheese industries. It offers the most extensive range of advanced solutions on the market today - from a single machine or packaging material to a complete production line.

The Challenge

To date, every GEA site had its own methods and techniques to compile and publish technical documentation with varying quality. It turned out as a rather inconvenient approach. The challenge was to make GEA manuals uniform with cost savings and improved performance in mind.

The Solution

1. Make up documentation with one appearance, one structure in a well-ordered arrangement
2. Use XML, write STE (Simplified Technical English) and emphasize illustrations

The keyword here is modularity.

At present, Etteplan | Tedopres uses a database to compile GEA manuals. The information units in this database are already available (re-usable) or have to be produced (on term re-usable). A well-defined set of metadata provides access to the stored information. Content and layout are separated in XML. By way of style sheets it is possible to publish the same content to paper (PDF) or to the web (HTML). Moreover, the same content may be used for other purposes, for instance on-line help assistance.

The Results

All GEA documentation is recognizable by structure and layout. For GEA,  this is an important issue.

• 60% text reduction
• 80% re-use of information units
• 90% cost savings on translations
• 30% time-to-market profit

The use of STE results in a text reduction of 60%. Moreover, it makes translations clearer and therefore more reliable. In general, the re-use of information units is 20% due to similarities in the sections Safety and Control. If a machine fits within a product family, the benefits may even run up till 80%. Re-use in translations saves up to 90%! All efficiency benefits together provide a time-to-market profit of 30%.

Black & Decker

Translation of manuals: Black & Decker

Black & Decker produces power tools and machinery for both home and professional users. The manuals are created in English and then translated. Depending on the type of product, translations are required in up to 24 languages. Etteplan | Tedopres translates these manuals for Black & Decker.

The challenge

Translating one manual is not sufficient for Black & Decker, because they publish approx. 100 manuals per year, and have to deliver these manuals in between 12 and 24 languages. Typically, the average manual contains between 2,400 and 5,000 words per language. The annual translation cost without reuse would amount to approx. $1 million.

The solution

Etteplan | Tedopres creates all Black & Decker manuals using a database of available text blocks and a standardized structure to minimize translation cost and time-to-market.  The use of a database to translate a manual results in consistent use of language and facilitates version management.

The results

• 80% cost savings on translations
• 80% decrease of cycle time
• 90% re-use of source material

Small and Medium-sized Enterprises

Etteplan | Tedopres clientele consist not only of multinationals. We work with a large number of SME too, especially within our translation services and localization department. An example of our SME partnership is the solutions Etteplan | Tedopres has to offer to Chronos BTH.

Chronos BTH

Chronos BTH is recognized worldwide for its innovative and customized weighing, bagging, palletizing and load securing solutions. Chronos BTH offers manual, semi-automatic or fully integrated solutions for bagging a diverse range of bulk materials.

The challenge

All Chronos BTH must be structured, were Etteplan | Tedopres was challenged to execute all translations, in an effective and cost reducing way.

The solution

Etteplan | Tedopres creates all Chronos BTH’s translations using a database of available text blocks and a  standardized structure to minimize translation cost and time to market while optimizing consistency and facilitating version management.

The results

• 70% cost savings on technical translations
• 35% faster time-to-market
• Higher consistency level in the technical translations