OttoBock
Otto Bock – achieving a streamlined translation process with Across Language Server and tranlate plus

The client
Otto Bock has been a world leader in the industry of prosthetics, orthotics and mobility solutions for over 90 years. The Otto Bock group consists of Otto Bock HealthCare (medical technology), Otto Bock Kunststoff (plastics), Technogel (chemistry) and Sycor (information and communication technology). Throughout the years they have evolved continually, with their focus on innovative product development to aid mobility and freedom.
The challenge
Otto Bock have a large number of international suppliers, clients and employees; as a global life sciences business they also have the most intensive and regulated processes for documentation and product-related releases. Otto Bock’s rapid expansion – with offices in 39 countries – has resulted in a need to cover more languages to assist their customers around the world. Otto Bock always have many projects running simultaneously: they needed a translation provider and process capable of supporting an average of 40 projects per month in 36 language combinations.
The tailored solution
Otto Bock have a large number of international suppliers, clients and employees.
translate plus worked with Otto Bock to implement a localisation process which has Across Language Server v5.7 at its core. This market-leading software platform allows translate plus, as a preferred partner of Across, to provide high-quality translation while reducing the overall workload, time-to-market and cost for the client. With projects typically involving many users, formats and timelines, Across Language Server enables all stakeholders within Otto Bock and translate plus to access a central platform to manage all translation and proofreading tasks, and to ensure that translation memories and glossaries are always up to date.
In a highly time-critical industry, speed is crucial when it comes to creating competitive advantage. Working with Across Language Server, translate plus are able to save time and to streamline Otto Bock’s processes with advanced technologies and linguistic resources. Otto Bock submit their requests directly via CrossGrid – the component which enables the flexible distribution of projects and tasks between trusted Across Servers. Using Across Language Server’s built-in workflow management and QA tools, translate plus follow an agreed translation process with a rigorous emphasis on quality, before seamlessly delivering the translated content to Otto Bock at the click of a button.
Along with translation and proofreading, translate plus also manage Otto Bock’s typesetting (desktop publishing) requests: this is crucial for Otto Bock to be able to effectively display their messages internationally in a variety of artworked formats. In-house desktop publishing (DTP) specialists within translate plus ensure that the translated content perfectly matches the original design, while Across Language Server’s support for DTP formats such as Adobe InDesign means that translation memories never become out of date during the DTP process.
The cutting-edge approach to technology fostered by translate plus means that it has been possible to combine the workflow aspects of Across Language Server with custom accounting systems for billing purposes, leading to a fully integrated end-to-end solution, from ordering to invoicing.
The benefits
Through the combination of translate plus and Across Language Server, Otto Bock save significant amounts of time, gain increased transparency in the translation process, and have been able to streamline their processes from start to finish.
- Otto Bock enjoy hassle-free quoting and ordering processes.
- Project managers and Otto Bock stakeholders have a clear overview of project status in real time.
- Translators and proofreaders have the choice to work in the way which makes them most effective: via a desktop client or a browser client.
- Instant notifications for Otto Bock tell them as soon as translations are ready to use. Otto Bock gain price transparency throughout the process, right through to final invoicing.
- translate plus linguists who are subject-matter experts benefit from Across Language Server’s built-in QA tools, therefore increasing productivity and efficiency.
- These processes lead to high-quality results which are compliant with the quality procedures required for the independent EN 15038 certification held by translate plus.
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