420 pages. 45 drawings. Two weeks.

Worley's harbour studies for the Government of Nunavut, translated into French for the tender and delivered on day 14.

The project

The Government of Nunavut was tendering harbour developments at Iqaluit and Pond Inlet, and the tender had to go out in French. Worley (then WorleyParsons) had the studies behind it: marine, geotechnical and environmental, more than 420 pages and 45 AutoCAD drawings, 80,221 words in all. The pages existed only as PDFs, and some of the geotechnical studies were 1970s scans, barely legible. Worley had a fixed tender date and three disciplines of terminology to carry into French. If the French was late, the tender was late.

The schedule

Days 1 to 3: files and terms

The PDFs and drawings were prepared for translation, and the key terms were validated before translation started.

Days 1 to 3: files and terms.

Days 4 to 12: translation

Four translators worked in parallel on one shared translation memory, so a term settled by one was the term used by all four.

Days 4 to 12: translation.

Days 5 to 12: review

One reviewer revised the studies as they came in, while translation continued.

Days 5 to 12: review.

Days 13 and 14: layout

The French text was laid out in the studies and the drawings.

Days 13 and 14: layout.

Day 14: delivery

The team worked weekends to hold the date.

Day 14: delivery.

The result

The French studies went out with the tender on schedule. Four translators, one reviewer and 45 drawings worked from one set of terms, because the terms were settled on day 3, not discovered on day 12.

What it means for your tender

Old scans, drawings, several translators and a fixed bid date are the normal conditions of a public tender. Send yours early, and your French goes out with the tender, in one terminology. Today, AutoCAD DWG drawings come back with the French written in place, in the same terms as the studies. See tenders and bids.

Bidding soon? Request a quote with your closing date, answered within one business day, or send a recent deliverable or drawing for a free, confidential terminology check.

Pages420+

Marine, geotechnical and environmental studies.

Drawings45+

AutoCAD drawings, translated in the drawing.

Words80,221

Four translators and one reviewer, sharing one translation memory in real time.

Deadline14 days

Fixed by the tender. No extension was possible.

The programme, day by day, weekends included

Task1234567891011121314

FilesPDF to editable filesDays 1 to 3

TermsValidated before translationDays 1 to 3

Translation4 translatorsDays 4 to 12

Review1 reviewer, from day 5Days 5 to 12

LayoutAdjusted for the longer French13 to 14

DeliveryOn the bid date

Start

Your engineers review the translation in minutes, not hours.

DirectRequest a quote

Send your package: specs, drawings or reports. We reply with a price and a date.

FreeFree terminology check

Upload a recent translated deliverable. We return a short report of every inconsistent term.