AbroadLink News

Last November, AbroadLink Translations passed the follow-up audits with Bureau Veritas for ISO 13485, ISO 9001 and ISO 17100.

Our management system based on the ISO 13485 standard is a mature system that is eight years old this year, although in the spirit of the standard it is constantly evolving in search of improvements to the system. In this regard, a significant improvement over the past eight years has been the introduction of indicators that have allowed us to improve the system's sensitivity to the management quality.

The first ISO 13485 and ISO 17100 implementation audits at AbroadLink Translations took place in November 2018. One of the most relevant improvements that the auditors have made to our ISO 13485 standard in the last two audits has been the need to receive the academic accreditations that justify the classification of a translator as ISO 13485, i.e. that the translator meets the requirements set out in our quality manual for ISO 13485.

This measure is intended to ensure the accuracy of the information contained in the translator's curriculum vitae. Although the standard does not specify that this is necessary, the spirit of the standard emphasises the control of suppliers by standard holders.

The implementation of the ISO 13485 standard at AbroadLink goes beyond the requirements of the standard to provide correct and reliable translations. Through this standard, AbroadLink Translations makes a commitment to its clients to only use translators with training and specialisation in the field of medical translation.

In this sense, when we issue a translation under ISO 13485, the translators we use are specialised in medical translation, which is accredited by having specific training in medical translation (for example, having studied for a master's degree in medical translation) or having studied medicine, physiotherapy, nursing or veterinary medicine with experience in translation.
 

Arno Stern is an extraordinary man. How many people do you know who were born in 1924 who do online seminars? Yes, Arno Stern is 96 years old but that's no reason not to use new technologies and take his knowledge beyond the borders of France. In addition, Arno Stern speaks French, but thanks to the remote interpretation services of our translation agency, 20 Italian trainees were able to enjoy the event live.

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1. Who's Arno Stern?

Arno Stern was born in Germany, but with Hitler's rise to power his father decided to leave Germany and settle down in France. Due to the family situation and the fear of being arrested during the years of the Second World War, he did not have the opportunity to have a "normal" education. During his life, Arno Stern has researched and created a system of learning outside the conventional conception. If you are interested in knowing more about Arno Stern's original thinking and his research on how to educate children and how to initiate them in painting, we recommend you see the interview with his own son -who has never been to school or followed a formal education-, which you can find published by the BBVA Foundation: see André Stern's interview with his father (in French).

2. Why did Arno Stern decide to work with AbroadLink Translations?

Arno Stern offers training based on his extensive experience in learning and teaching painting to children. This training course takes place over 4 weekends and on this occasion there were more than 20 Italian trainees who were interested in being able to take the course. For his part, Arno Stern was familiar with the use of ClickMeeting as an online tool for webinars. However, one of the problems with using ClickMeeting is that to date it does not provide a configuration that allows simultaneous interpretation.

From AbroadLink Translations, we offered an alternative configuration that would allow for simultaneous interpretation while Arno Stern could deliver the course using the tool he mastered and trusted for the good experiences already accumulated. AbroadLink Translations' solution was to use an alternative system that would run alongside the course and bring the voice of the interpreters to the ears of the Italian course attendees. In order to successfully carry out the interpretation, instructions had to be written for the Italian trainees and they had to be given technical support in Italian.

ClickMeeting is a platform for webinars and online meetings. If you want to know more, you can visit the ClickMeeting website.

3. Selection of interpreters for the event at ClickMeeting

From the point of view of the interpretation, Arno Stern's sessions were a challenge in terms of the originality and peculiarity of the contents to be translated. For us at AbroadLink it was important to ensure that the interpreters were the most suitable. One of the first decisions taken in this respect was to consider only interpreters whose mother tongue was Italian. While the interpretation would be from a course given by Arno Stern in French into the Italian head by an Italian audience, the most recommendable was to use Italian native interpreters because of the greater ease of interpretation into the native language and the better acceptance and understanding that this interpretation would have among Italian native speakers.

But this was not the only aspect taken into account, it was also necessary to find interpreters with less than five years of experience who could offer more competitive rates that could be viable for a more modest budget, but at the same time ensure the competence of these interpreters in the case of a creative subject related to pedagogy and painting. For this task, AbroadLink Translations made a pre-selection of 6 interpreters according to their personal profiles by means of an interpretation test in which they need to interpret Arno Stern himself, which was evaluated according to various parameters and which enabled the selection of the two interpreters who performed the interpretation of the webinar given from France at ClickMeeting.

OnTheGoSystems, the company that owns the market-leading plug-in for managing multilingual websites in WordPress, WPML, is now a strategic partner of AbroadLink Translations. WPML is currently the most sophisticated and developed plug-in in the market far away from its competitors. For this reason, AbroadLink Translations has chosen this technology to offer to its clients translations of webs created in WordPress. Furthermore, the translation company will be offering WPML for free to its new clients translating their websites with AbroadLink.

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Professional translation with ISO 9001 and ISO 13485 through WPML

The partnership between OnTheGoSystems, creator of the plug-in WPML, and AbroadLink Translations allows the integration of the translation process of more than 70 languages in WordPress through WPML with the translation management platform of AbroadLink Translations. This integration between the two companies offers users of the WordPress plug-in WPML simple and automated access through a proven process to the translation language services of AbroadLink Translations. WPML customers can thus benefit from this integration and use professional translation services certified with standards for quality management systems, ISO 9001, for translation services, ISO 17100, and for medical devices, ISO 13485.

Amir Helzer, CEO and founder of OnTheGoSystems, said: "The biggest advantage of using WordPress is its simplicity. The integration between WPML and AbroadLink Translations helps companies to achieve the translation of their websites in a simple way. We are pleased with the partnership with AbroadLink Translations and look forward to helping many companies achieve their internationalization and translation goals.”

WPML: state-of-the-art technology solution for your translations

On the other hand, AbroadLink Translations can offer a state-of-the-art technological solution that integrates its technical translation, legal translation or medical/medical devices translation services, with WPML's state-of-the-art translation management in WordPress. With the solution provided by WordPress, WPML and AbroadLink Translations any company, whether it is a small or medium sized enterprise or a multinational company, can easily exploit the opportunities that globalization through the Internet represents. Whether it's a dental deposit that needs specialized dental translation or a medical device manufacturer that demands medical translation, companies and their marketing departments can use a solution that is as simple as effective for their web-based product internationalization and translation needs.

With AbroadLink Translations, WPML for WordPress is free

At AbroadLink Translations, we know that, in most real-world cases, the best way to manage and translate your multilingual websites created in WordPress is through WPML. We know! WPML not only saves management time for your users, but also for us as a translation company. The integration of our platforms, WPML technical support, and a proven translation process allows us to reimburse you for the cost of WPML on your first translation project with us.

IMPORTANT: in order to take advantage of our promotion buy the application through this link. We will deduct the amount in the first translation project with us.

Translating in Word with cut-paste versus WPML

For those whose translation process is cut-and-paste in Word, translate, then cut-and-paste again in WordPress, discovering the integration of AbroadLink's translation services with WPML will be a pleasant surprise that will save you time and errors in managing your multilingual websites. The cost of WPML, which will be free if you buy them through our website and translate with us, will be insignificant compared to the time you will save in the medium term compared to the cut-and-paste old-fashioned method. The integration with our service, its translation management interface or the management of formats such as bold or external or internal links, are some of the advantages that new users of WPML will be able to enjoy.

How to use WPML and the translation services of AbroadLink Translations

The integration of the WPML and AbroadLink Translations platforms is very simple and fast. Basically, what you will have to do is install WPML in WordPress and use an API code that will integrate your WordPress installation with our translation management platform. You can see all the details at this link: how to translate in WordPress as WPML and AbroadLink Translations. In any case, don't hesitate to contact us if you have any questions or ask us to send you our free e-book in PDF format.

Technical support for translation with WPML and WordPress

One of the great advantages offered by OnTheGoSystem, the creator of WPML, to AbroadLink translation clients is the technical support provided by OnTheGoSystem to resolve the doubts of IT departments that are on their way to mastering the use of WPML and WordPress, or in the case of sophisticated WordPress installations that require in-depth technical knowledge of both WPML and WordPress. AbroadLink Translations thus offers its clients first-class technical support to ensure the publication of your website translation quickly and efficiently.

Why WordPress?

If you're reading this communication it's probably because you're using WordPress or considering using it, but don't be surprised, WordPress is by far the most used CMS in the world, at least according to the W3Techs.com 2020 studies, according to which, over 37.8% of all websites in the world were created with WordPress. Of those websites that were created using a CMS, 63.5% were created using WordPress. Offering professional translation services integrated with WordPress through WPML was a must for our clients. You can see more information about CMS in this blog about the most widely used CMS.

About OnTheGoSystems

OnTheGoSystems is a teleworking company that employs over 90 teleworkers working on some of the most popular WordPress plug-ins such as WPML or Toolset. Its employees work from over 77 cities in 41 countries.

Talking about LEXON means talking about practical, modern, and ingenious design... and about products sold in more than 90 countries worldwide with instruction manuals translated from English into 14 languages: German, Arabic, Chinese, Korean, Spanish, French, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Dutch, Portuguese, Russian, Thai, and Turkish.

Nearing 30 years of operation, Lexon has established itself as a globally recognised French design brand. It boasts over 180 design awards, successful collaborations with some of the world's most prestigious designers, a presence in 90 countries, more than 6,000 points of sale and significant activity in the corporate gift sector. Its timeless collections of objects and luggage, designed for home, office, travel or urban nomadism, combine their strong identity with ease of use, bringing aesthetic pleasure to everyday life.

Considering that 65% of LEXON's turnover in 2018 was thanks to exports, all this frenetic international activity requires a reliable and efficient translation process. LEXON's instruction manuals are initially produced in Illustrator format. To proceed with the translation process in the fastest and most competitive way, AbroadLink processes these files directly in Illustrator. By processing the files directly, we manage to reduce the layout budget, as our layout designers find all the original text formats where they need to be. Moreover, inserting the text into the final template is much simpler, therefore this process is much faster and more affordable than copying and pasting from Word. If you are interested in knowing how we do it, you can read our blog post: How to use Sysfilter for Illustrator for translations.

LEXON uses AbroadLink’s translation of manuals services because we have been able to respond quickly and effectively to their immediate needs. Coordinating the translation and layout of 14 languages within 48 hours, with translators working in different time zones, is no easy task. However, our automated translation management processes systematically maintain databases with LEXON's translations and directly process Illustrator files for better integration of the translation and layout process. Thanks to this system and the commitment of our dedicated project managers, translators, and layout designers, we have earned LEXON's trust in our translation services. And it wasn't always easy!

With AbroadLink, LEXON has found a reliable translation provider to put their products on sale when necessary, which usually means: the sooner, the better!

Our quality system based on ISO 9001 was five years old last November, so it was a good time to continue moving towards a deeper quality management and audit of our processes. Since the end of last year, our quality manual contains the procedures that have enabled us to successfully overcome the audits of the ISO 13485 and ISO 17100 certifications.

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Why a Medical Device Quality Standard in a Translation Company?

The ISO 13485 standard deals with the quality management of medical devices. In its nature and origin is a standard intended for manufacturers of medical devices. Why then is a translation company like AbroadLink Translations certified in this standard? At AbroadLink we are convinced that translations of medical devices carry a potential risk to people's health. It seemed a natural step in our development as a company to go one step further to assure our clients of our commitment to medical and healthcare translation.  The audit of translation management processes in this key area, which directly or indirectly affects all of us, is a sign of this commitment.

Among the different aspects included in this standard, translation is also included, recognising this quality system the vital importance that translations can have in the particular case of medical devices and the need for medical device manufacturers to specify a procedure for managing their translation requirements.

As a translation company, the vast majority of the procedures required by the ISO 13485 standard are not applicable to us, but the procedure that describes our translation process when we translate for clients who manufacture medical devices. With this standard, AbroadLink Translations has had the opportunity to define a specific procedure, which is particularly demanding with the verification of the veracity of the translators' CVs, their professional references and their specialisation within the medical field.

What Is So Special About The ISO 17100 Standard For Translation Services?

Most of our clients are unaware of the ISO 17100 standard for translation services. As its name already indicates, it is an exclusive standard for translation services and is currently the most demanding standard in relation to translation. It is a 2016 standard, although its history goes back to the ISO 15038 standard on translation services, which officially replaces. The ISO 17100 standard represents a slight improvement over the replaced ISO 15038, developed by translation professionals and released in 2006. The ISO 17100 standard clearly details how a translation should be managed: from the record system to be kept, the minimum requirements to be imposed on translation professionals (e.g. translators and proofreaders) as well as the quality process to be carried out. 

A particularly important element that details the standard and is a condition for a translation to bear this seal of quality is that all translations must be proofread by a second translator who acts as proofreader and certifies the quality of the translation by re-reading the source text and the translation to verify that there are no omissions in the translation or errors of meaning, grammar, spelling, formatting and that the conventions of the target language are followed as well as the specifications of the project.
It is not in vain that it is becoming more and more common for tenders for translation services from national and international organizations and institutions to require compliance with this standard in their specifications.

In the international translation market, many translation companies offer their clients translation jobs without a revision. This is explained by the fact that an ISO 17100-compliant translation costs between 30 and 40% more, which leads many companies to opt for a translation-only process in order to meet their translation budget. 

The adaptation of our quality manual to the ISO 17100 standard has been relatively straightforward. During the implementation of the ISO 9001 standard in AbroadLink Translationjs, the old ISO 15038 standard on translation services was taken as a reference.

From TUV Rheiland To Bureau Veritas

Another of the changes incorporated by the renewal of the ISO 9001 standard is that we decided to change the certifying entity after 4 years. This change does not really have to do with the certification process itself, but rather with the assessment that AbroadLink's marketing team has made of the trademarks of the different certifying bodies, opting for the French certifying body Bureau Veritas in this new certification stage that opens with the incorporation of the ISO 13485 and ISO 17100 certifications.
 

This quarter marks a major milestone in the AbroadLink’s development as a top-tier translation service provider. Next quarter, our ISO 9001 certification will be five years old. It was a good time to raise the bar and offer our clients the quality assurances provided by the ISO 17100:2015 standard for translation services, and the ISO 13845:2016 standard for medical devices.

What is the ISO 17100:2015 standard?

This standard replaces the old ISO 15038:2006 quality standard for translation services. A main feature introduced by the old standard and maintained by the updated one is that the translation process involves a review step. That is, the translation is initially carried out by a translator and then reviewed by a second professional. Other characteristics of this standard are the specifications regarding the qualifications that translators must have. When AbroadLink developed the quality manual for ISO 9001 in 2013, the process was prepared to comply with the then ISO 15038:2006, which is now facilitating the implementation of the new version of the standard for translation services.

What is the ISO 13485:2016 standard?

This is a standard specific to the healthcare sector, particularly for the quality management of medical devices. So, why are we at AbroadLink interested in being certified under this standard? The reason is clear: we want to tell all our clients who produce or market medical devices that quality is of great importance to us as a provider and that our translation services for manuals, websites, software, etc., comply with a standard widely adopted by the sector. The key element introduced by this standard compared to ISO 9001 within the management of AbroadLink is the requirements for selecting translators specialised in medical device translation.

The general management of AbroadLink has decided to open a business office in Paris to meet the demands of our clients and potential clients in France. For the moment, our translation agency does not intend to create a subsidiary in France. As AbroadLink is a Spanish company fiscally and administratively based in Madrid, all our French clients with the status of intra-community operators do not have to pay VAT on translation services. This is an advantage for the cash flow of our clients who do not have to wait for the VAT refund from the French tax authorities.

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1. AbroadLink expects to invoice more than 30% in France by 2023

The goal of AbroadLink is to continue increasing its turnover percentage in the French market, where it already has strategic clients in the pharmaceutical, medical, medical device, and dental and implantology translation sectors. In 2017, the company's turnover in the French market amounted to 6% and is expected to reach 10% by the end of this year. The current goal is to generate a turnover exceeding 30% in France in the next five years.

2. A nearby, well-known and cherished market

Our translation company has been aware of the French market needs for more than 10 years. In the early years following our founding in 2002, the French clients of AL Traductions were other French translation agencies that outsourced their translation services, mainly from English and French into Spanish. Another service widely offered to French translation companies, as well as German, British, and American ones, was layout services, an integral part of translation services.

3. Competitive advantages of our layout and translation services

Thanks to our production centralised in the multicultural city of Granada, an attractive place for many young professionals from all over Europe, we can offer more competitive prices for premium services. The University of Granada is the fourth most important university in Spain in terms of student population. In this sense, Granada can be compared to the French cities of Lille, Rennes or Montpellier. On the other hand, the Faculty of Translation and Interpreting of the University of Granada is one of the oldest translation faculties in Spain and one of the most prestigious in terms of translation and interpretation studies.

In conclusion, the opening of this new business office in Paris brings the full benefits of globalisation within reach of French companies. AbroadLink combines cutting-edge technological infrastructure with a network of native-language professionals, offering an exceptional price–quality ratio that outperforms most translation providers in Europe.

Those who closely follow the development of our company will know that AbroadLink has been collaborating with the Translation Centre for the Bodies of the European Union (CdT) since July 2015. Three years ago, our translation company was chosen to provide translations of general topics from English into Turkish and Arabic for various institutions of the European Union.

AbroadLink submitted another bid earlier this year and in July we were informed that our company had been selected as the first choice for English into Spanish legal translations. This bid is based on a framework contract from the CdT, under which AbroadlLink will meet the translation needs according to the specifications of the bid. The translations cover topics related to European legislation or the legislation of the Parliament itself for various institutions and bodies of the European Union.

The Translation Centre for the Bodies of the European Union (CdT) is an EU body responsible for managing the translation and interpreting needs of European institutions. The translation centre manages several million words annually, translating and interpreting into more than thirty language pairs. To this end, the CdT uses both an internal team of translators and interpreters as well as external translators and translation agencies, which it usually selects through tenders.
 

The management of the company has decided to open a commercial office in Madrid, as well as to move the company's headquarters to Madrid. Clients from Madrid and Barcelona accounted for around 70% of the company's turnover in 2017 in relation to the bulk of national clients. In this sense, it is planned to open a commercial office in Barcelona in the near future.

The Madrid headquarters are located at an emblematic address in Madrid, in the Castellana Business Center, Paseo de la Castellana 40, 8th floor. The choice of this address in Madrid fulfils a marketing and practical objective: marketing, because of the prestige of the address itself which is internationally recognised, which is very important for the international offer of our translation services; practical, because many of the clients and potential clients in Madrid have their offices on the Paseo de la Castellana itself or in adjacent areas.

Our headquarters in Madrid now offers us a space where we can present and attend to our clients in order to offer them personalised attention and explain our translation offers and the strategies we have implemented to successfully carry out the most complex projects.

For logistical reasons and to offer more confidence to potential new clients, the general services contract establishes the courts of Madrid, Barcelona or Granada as the place of jurisdiction, depending on geographical preferences. Although AbroadLink Translations has never been in demand for its translation services, the company's management understands that this measure generates confidence, not only in companies in Madrid and Barcelona, but also in others based in other regions, as this flexibility of jurisdiction shows the company's commitment.

Since February 2016, the new physical and fiscal address of AbroadLink is the ATENEA building, C/Periodista Fernando Gómez de la Cruz, 17, Office 1.2. We encourage all of our clients to come and visit us and to get to know our new office.

The new physical company address is also the new fiscal address, so all of our invoices and those of our suppliers should use this address from now on.

The ATENEA building was completed in 2008, when the crisis started to destroy the Spanish economy with more force. This situation has created an investment opportunity for the translation agency. The purchase of the office was made through Servihabitat with an investment of around 50% less than the market prices were when it was originally put on the market.

ATENEA building: a strategy for the future

The purchase of the ATENEA office is an important strategic move and a value investment for the future. Our new office represents a significant improvement for the comfort of our team at work, and not just for the novelty in itself, but due to the open space and glass front. This keeps us visually connected in the office and also enables us to enjoy the great light that the glass front brings, not to mention those who have the privilege of seeing the Sierra Nevada from their desk.

Another element of great importance for AbroadLink is the ability to create value as the housing market is regularised, and we hope that the value of our assets will grow by around 30% in the next five years.

As a final element of strategic importance, we now have greater capacity to project an image of modernity, solvency and ability, an essential element in our commitment towards internationalisation and in order to gain the loyalty of our clients outside of Spain, offering more guarantees with regards to the company's path and position in the market.