Our quality management system is certified according to the new European EN 15038 standard. We obtained certification in 2007 and the most recent renewal was at the start of 2013.
EN 15038 emphasises good translator selection, and we maintain a database with detailed supplier information. We take care to ask partner firms about their translators, and use third parties to check quality. Audit schemes do not yet exist everywhere, but we hope all our partner offices will soon be able to certify; most already meet other standards.
EN 15038 demands precisely defined, trackable project management processes, and our office management software supports this. The standard states that translations must be checked, and we do so unless customers put speed first.
EN 15038 highlights the importance of customer feedback, and we use project follow-up and surveys to find out whether our clients are satisfied.
We take a proactive approach to quality. We have a house style, and issue detailed instructions to translators aimed at avoiding mistakes and encouraging good research.
One of our main quality tools is a large online terminology database, accessible to all our translators. This and a big pool of translation memories makes us a learning organisation.
New approaches to translation quality management stress good teamwork during the translation process more than end-of-pipe editing. This approach is central to our methods.