Hi guys, when speaking of quality, it’s so easy to associate with the ISO 9001 standards. When it comes to translation, have you ever heard of the ISO 17100 standard?
ISO 17100 is an international standard that “specifies requirements for all aspects of the translation process directly affecting the quality and delivery of translation services”. It includes the minimum qualification requirements of translation service providers (TSPs), document quality control, and project management. So, it’s never easy for TSPs to pass ISO 17100 certification.
While many people are unfamiliar with ISO 17100, let PTSGI, an ISO 17100-certified TSP, tell you more about it. This short introduction will include a summary of ISO 17100 and the requirements for passing ISO 17100 certification. With such, we aim to help you choose the right TSPs when you are in need of quality translation service.
What is ISO 17100?
Let’s begin with ISO. ISO is the International Organization for Standardization, and ISO 17100 is the international standard established for governing translation services.
| Official title | Translation services-Requirements for translation services |
| Establishment | By ISO in 2015. |
| Objective | Ensure translation quality and standardize quality control. |
| Contents | Specify requirements for all aspects of the translation process directly affecting the quality and delivery of translation services. (Introduction, ISO 17100:2005) |
| Scope | Translation companies, individual translators, or in-house translation departments. (2.4.2, ISO 17100:2005) |
Coverage of ISO 17100
ISO 17100 falls into three main categories: human resources, technical and technological resources, and production processes.
Human resources
First is human resources. This category defines the requirements for translators, revisers, and translation project managers for maintaining the competences of personnel related to translation. Translators and translation companies (TSPs) shall conform to the following:
- The TSP shall have a documented process in place to ensure that the people selected to perform translation tasks have the required competences and qualifications.
- The TSP shall keep a record of the evidence upon which the professional competences of translators, revisers, reviewers, and other professionals have been demonstrated.
Competences and qualifications of translators
Competences of translators
“Translation competence, linguistic and textual competence in the source language and the target language; competence in research, information acquisition, and processing; cultural competence; technical competence; and domain competence”.
Qualifications of translators (translators should meet at least one of the following qualifications)
- A recognized graduate qualification in translation from an institution of higher education.
- A recognized graduate qualification in any other field from an institution of higher education plus two years of full-time professional experience in translating.
- Five years of full-time professional experience in translating.
In addition to the qualifications of translators, ISO 17100 also requests TSPs to “recording regular maintenance and updating of required competences”, such as setting up a periodic training or other systems to maintain, improve the competences of translators and related personnel (such as organizing training), and records shall be maintained. Failure to follow this instruction is at risk of being disqualified by the ISO review.
Technical and technological resources
Second is technical and technological resources: An ISO 17100-certified TSP shall have hardware and software equipment needed to perform professional translation and process confidential documents, including technical equipment required for the efficient and effective completion of translation projects and for the safe and confidential handling, communications equipment, and terminology management systems.
There is no exception to PTSGI. We have all the hardware and software as specified in 3.2 of ISO 17100 to improve translation quality. These hardware and software include, but are not limited to, computer-assisted translation (CAT) tools, a terminology pool containing commonly used terms, phrases, and sentences of respective areas, desktop publishing (DTP) tools for document design, layout, and editing, and storage equipment for protecting customer data.
Production process
Third is the production process. At PTSGI, the production process falls into five standard operating procedures (SOPs).
(1) Pre-production activities
Ensure human resources, issue a clear quotation (including the corresponding fees, language pairs, delivery time, delivery format, and delivery medium), and a full record of enquiries and TSP-client agreements.
(2) Technical aspects of project preparation
Produce the product registration card and prepare translation resources (e.g., glossary, style guide, references, and translation terminology).
(3) Administrative activities
Assign a project manager, select appropriate translators and revisers (proofreaders), strictly follow the schedule and delivery time, review translations for conformity to the specifications, and handle customer feedback.
(4) Project inspection
The project manager shall check if the terminology, style, and format of translation conform to the specifications. The reviser (must not be the translator) shall double-check the translation. The project manager shall perform the final inspection.
(5) Closing administration
Make corrections at the request of customers and retain/destroy the confidential data of customers.
At PTSGI, everything specified in ISO 17100 is planned, established, implemented, and documented. Click here for more about our project management processes.
Benefits for choosing ISO 17100-certified TSPs
Much about the requirements for ISO 17100 certification has been introduced. Now, let’s move on to the 3 benefits for choosing ISO 17100-certified TSPs.
Benefits for seeking translation services from ISO 17100-certified TSPs:
- Trustworthy translation quality
- Lower risk of project delay
- Heartful response to customer feedback
ISO 17100 certification represents a guarantee for translator competences and qualifications, information management, and process management to ensure conformity to all your demands. Hence, ISO 17100-certified TSPs are trustworthy.
ISO 17100 certification also includes the commitment of timely project delivery through schedule check and project management covering delay prevention, quality assurance, and heartful response to customer feedback.
The ability to retain and destroy confidential data is another focus. In the absence of a well-established system to ensure information security, prevent information breaches, and guarantee non-disclosure of customer data, even the best translation is useless.
If you are worried about information breaches during translation, seeking professional translation services for technical documents such as medicine and patent, looking for all-in-one service including translation, design, and layout, ISO 17100 is the key.
We hope that the above information can help you understand more about ISO 17100, the key to quality translation.
If you are looking for quality translation services, don’t hesitate to call PTSGI, an ISO 17100 certified translation service provider.
