How accurate translation helps our clients meet their sustainability goals – the Indutrade Group – a case study.
Our clients work hard to ensure that their businesses are run to the highest standards and that their values are reflected in everything they do. One key way to achieve this is by drafting an organisation-wide code of conduct, which gives guidance to employees about how they should treat each other, as well as how they should interact with others as a representative of the company.
Amongst other things, a code of conduct protects a company from potential fallout from any future problems, for example, the loss of delivery pipelines due to wrongdoing, supports their sustainability goals and builds trust with the business’ stakeholders, thereby stabilising its share price.
Background
In 2024, we had the pleasure of working with the Indutrade Group, a group of companies headquartered in Sweden that manufactures, develops and sells technical components, systems and services. The Group is made up of more than 200 companies based in 30 different countries – www.indutrade.com.
Task
We were initially asked to help Indutrade translate their newly published code of conduct from English into 12 different languages, so that this important information could be shared with their employees across the Group. Indutrade then asked us to translate the online training course they planned to send out to all their employees, as well as additional parts of that course including subtitles for two video messages from the CEO. The project stretched over nine months and encompassed various delivery requirements.
Challenges
The main challenge with this project was the number of different languages that were needed. This included a few languages that we do not usually work with such as Chinese and Sinhalese. In order to meet these requirements, we had to identify new suppliers that we hadn’t worked with before.
At Fluid, we use advanced translation systems to ensure consistent, accurate translations, as well as the use of specific client vocabulary. Since not all translators of less common languages are familiar with these translation tools, we also had to find ways to work around this issue.
An additional challenge was the delivery of translations of two sets of subtitles in all 12 languages.
Solutions
We worked with the client to split the languages up into groups, so that we could concentrate on fully delivering all documents relating to each group of languages rather than trying to work on them all at once. We created a detailed timetable, which was shared with the client, showing when the translations for each language would be delivered. This timetable was kept updated over the eight months we worked on the project, thereby ensuring that the client always knew which deliveries to expect and when, so that they could plan their own resources around our deliveries.
Our project management team worked flexibly to allow for changes in requirements, additional languages and additional materials as the project progressed. They maintained regular two-way contact with the client to ensure that we fully understood their instructions, as well as suggesting solutions and ways that Fluid could work with Indutrade to ensure that the final product fulfilled all their expectations.
Our client needed translations of their material in 12 different languages in order to ensure that as many of their employees as possible received the training in the language of their choice. We identified reliable, professional translators for those languages that were new to Fluid by reaching out to our network of trusted suppliers and supplier associations to identify suitable translators. We worked with those suppliers that were not familiar with our translation tools to identify the best solutions for delivering the work required and offered extra support from our project managers to assist with communication between the client and our suppliers.
We worked with a subtitling program called Aegisub, which allowed us to prepare the translations for the subtitles in our existing translation tool. We were then able to export the finished translations into a srt file format that allowed the client to import the translations directly into their online training course. This meant that our clients saved time and effort, and they didn’t need to export the files into a different format to upload them to their systems. This also avoided possible errors being introduced into the files during this process.
Result
Indutrade is launching their new training course to their employees across the Group knowing that the message in the course is consistent, compliant and can be fully understood by staff members globally.
Fluid’s proactive project management reassured them that we were working hard on their behalf and that we would deliver quality translations on the agreed deadlines. Deciding to ask Fluid to translate all 12 languages meant that Indutrade didn’t have to identify and work with multiple local translation agencies. The project was coordinated through their head office in Sweden and there was only one point of contact for queries, instead of having to coordinate multiple separate projects, which also gave them full control over the final code of conduct and the training materials.
Fluid Translation was pleased to help Indutrade provide a standard code of conduct to its subsidiary companies. We fulfilled all of Indutrade’s requirements, both in terms of quality and accuracy of the translations, as well as the responsiveness and flexibility required to deal with translations into 12 different languages, in a variety of file formats and for a range of different uses.
Factors for future success
We were pleased that we agreed with the client to separate the 12 languages into smaller groups; this strongly influenced our ability to consistently deliver quality products in a way that was manageable for both our project management team but also for Indutrade’s design team. We were able to work closely with the team and quickly make any changes needed. Having an agreed timetable for delivery was important for the client and helped us all keep on top of what projects were in progress and what needed to be delivered next.