Questions I heard at ABIM 2021 Basel – Here are the answers

Translation needs and challenges of the biocontrol sector

It`s always very useful for me to attend industry-related conferences, not only to meet existing and potential business partners in person, but also to learn about the regulatory requirements and relevant updates that affect the industry.

Recently I was in Basel at ABIM2021, the Annual Biocontrol Industry Meeting. The agenda and the set-up of the event offered a great opportunity for networking and I could talk to many participants about their translation needs and challenges. I’ve made a short summary about the three most common concerns I heard from companies and the possible solutions we offer.

1. Quality issues: This was the number one concern I heard. My overall impression was that companies are quite reluctant to outsource their translation tasks due to their bad experience with translation agencies. However, in many cases it’s not possible to do this task inhouse, so they are trying out different language service suppliers.
   
   Our solution: With a solid client base of 700 companies from the chemical industry and with more than 5 million translated words in the last two years, we make sure that the translations that we do comply with EU and international regulatory requirements.
   
   
2. Short deadlines: The final versions of SPCs need to be translated within five working days. In the case of 24 languages this is almost mission impossible and most translation agencies can’t cope with this task. The issue is the same in the case of registration dossiers.
   
   Our solution: Over the years we have developed a method that makes it possible to deliver translations of the highest quality into 24 languages, regardless of the length of the document. We have a huge translator pool specialised in chemicals and regulatory affairs. In addition, we can generate the translations in .xml format, so our partners can also save time and they don’t need to upload the language versions manually.
   
   
3. High costs: Companies spend huge amounts on chemical translations, and they may even often have to retranslate the same documents due to quality issues.
   
   Our solution: We try to motivate our partners to work with us in the long term. We build a translation memory for every partner and give a 60-80% discount on the repetitions and TM matches. This way not only will the translations be cheaper as time goes on but also the quality will be more consistent.
   

Written by Kristina Bitvai-Aeberhard, Managing Director of Eurideas