Document Translation: A World Of Specialists
Translation companies like Affinity Translation function in large part as directors of resources. Most translation companies have extensive networks of translators, editors, document design specialists, and video technicians (to mention just a few categories of skills) that they can draw on as needed in the course of performing projects.
When a customer requests translation services for a document for example, once the customer’s requirements are confirmed and a firm order exists, the project is assigned to the appropriate resources for attention. It doesn’t matter where the resources (translator, editor, technician, et. al.) are located in the world. They can really be almost anywhere since source material and the final deliverable to customers are electronic. The material can be sent online anywhere. Delivery of the final language product also occurs electronically by email or file transfer service.
A particular translation project and its body of text tends to be centered around a topic. Some source texts are general, while others are more specialized such as legal, technical, or domain specific marketing materials. Since translators as individuals naturally have topic specializations due to their experience and interests, some translators will be more suited to certain document translation projects than others. So it works to the advantage of customers and translation companies to be in a position to reach out to the best qualified personnel wherever they are in the world. This advantage would not exist if translation companies maintained a stable of in-house translators since the fixed cost associated with their employment would make utilizing them for every translation project, no matter their specialization or whether they were optimally qualified, the preferred choice.
Translation companies coordinate the assignment of skills in a given project to optimize the delivery of the final language project, be it a translation project or something else that includes translation of text. In a nutshell that’s what our company and other translation companies do.
