3 Elements of Quality Management in Life Sciences Translation
Aug 11, 2020
Imagine you’re reviewing a high-quality Life Sciences translation. It’s accurate, error-free, meets your requirements, and matches the purpose and target audience of the original file. It also meets national and international regulations, of course.
Now, the quality of this hypothetical file is more than just the product of careful translation and proofreading. It’s the result of a quality management framework designed to ensure this outcome.
The Elements of Quality Management
Quality management is made up of three elements that all language service providers should observe. These include:
1. Translator Skills and Expertise
A translator’s language skills and expertise in a given field are the most important factors in quality. This is especially true in a highly regulated field such as Life Sciences. The translator must understand the subject matter, the purpose of the project, and the target audience.
At OmniLingua, all of our translators:
- Are native speakers of the target language. (The vast majority of them reside in their native country.)
- Are specialists in the subject matter.
- Have a higher education degree AND a minimum of two years of full-time translation experience OR at least five years of full-time translation experience.
- Have ISO 17100:2015 certification or take responsibility for meeting those requirements.
- Are hired in compliance with the ISO 9001:2015, ISO 13485:2016, and ISO 17100:2015.
2. A Standardized Translation Process
The typical translation process involves: translating, editing, and proofreading. However, complex projects for industries such as Life Sciences require a more extensive quality assurance (QA) process.
Below is a brief overview of OmniLingua’s standard translation process:
- A project manager is assigned to work with a translation team. The team (a translator and an editor) translate, edit, and proof read the content.
- OmniLingua performs in-house QA. If Desktop Publishing or Package Prep is required, we prepare the files in the appropriate format and complete another round of quality assurance, including a final proof read and internal proof check of the layout.
- The client reviews the translated content, and OmniLingua incorporates any changes.
- Translation memories are updated accordingly for future project leveraging.
3. Translation Technology
Advances in technology have greatly improved the speed and accuracy of translations. In fact, there are two broad categories of technology that every language services company should use. These include:
- Computer-assisted translation (CAT) tools.
- Workflow automation
CAT tools enable professional teams to use translation memories, glossaries, and QA checkers to complete consistent and accurate translations more quickly. This is particularly important for Life Sciences translations because of their complex concepts, industry terms, and regulations.
Workflow automation reduces errors by performing recurrent tasks, which allows translators to focus on the translation itself. Collaboration and communication tools let everyone involved in the project access files, submit queries, and track its progress.
Workflow automation tools and standardized translation processes help to continuously improve operational output. Overall project success increases when project managers and linguists are empowered to do what they do best.
