C. guarantees that the product characteristics have been defined in such a way as to satisfy client, legal and regulatory requirements.

D. has defined and manages the processes necessary to achieve the expected results (compliant products and enhanced client satisfaction).

E. has guaranteed the availability of the resources necessary to support its activities and monitor its processes.

F. monitors and keeps under control the defined characteristics of the product.

G. works to prevent non-conformities and adopts improvement measures designed to:

1. resolve any non-conformities that may arise (including product non-conformities identified after delivery);

2. analyse the causes of the non-conformities and implement corrective actions to prevent their re-occurrence.

3. manage client claims.

H. has performed a thorough internal audit and management review.

I. monitors, measures and continuously improves the efficiency of its quality management system.

The international quality standard ISO 17100:2015 “specifies requirements for all aspects of the translation process directly affecting the quality and delivery of translation services:”

• Resources. The standard sets out the professional qualifications and skills of translators, revisers (bilingual editors), reviewers (monolingual editors), project managers, etc., and requires proof that said skills are continuously maintained and updated.
• Pre-production processes and activities. The standard provides a detailed description of requirements for the management of requests for quotes, feasibility studies and evaluations, the agreement between the client and the translation company, the management of client information inherent to the translation, administrative activities, technical aspects of the project’s preparation, language specifications and other important elements.
• Production process. The different stages of the production process are discussed: management of the translation service project, translation of the document and checking by a professional translator, in-depth revision by a second linguist (bilingual editing), review (monolingual editing by an industry expert) and the correction of drafts or “proofreading” (revision of content in target language and corrections before going to print) in cases where the client requests one of these two added-value services, in addition to the final check and delivery of the translation by a qualified project manager.
• Post-production processes. Unlike the UNE EN 15038 standard, the ISO 17100 quality standard highlights the importance of client communication both when developing the initial translation services agreement containing all details of the project, and when handling any changes, claims or queries, assessing client satisfaction and finalising administrative aspects.

Translation + independent revision (bilingual editing)

Similarly to the previous UNE EN-15038 quality standard, the most important aspect of the ISO 17100 quality standard is the definition of the translation process, wherein translation in its strictest sense is just one part of the process and does not guarantee quality unless a revision is carried out by a second translator. The standard also clearly defines the professional skills of each participant in the translation process, namely translators, revisers and project managers.

The necessary translator skills defined in the ISO 17100 standard include competence in translation, textual and linguistic competence in both the source and target languages, competence in research, in the acquisition of information and its elaboration, cultural competence, technical and sector-based competence.

All ISO 17100:2015 certified translation services must include translation and revision (bilingual editing) as a minimum.

• Translation. A translator having the necessary skills will translate documents and at the end of the initial translation, will check their own work.
• Revision (bilingual editing). A person other than the translator will revise the translations. The standard defines the revision as a “bilingual analysis of the content of the text in the target language through a comparison with the text in the source language to determine whether or not the agreed scope has been satisfied.”

Professional skills of translators and revisers

The quality standard obliges translation companies to work exclusively with translators able to provide documentary evidence that they satisfy at least one of the following criteria:

• A recognised qualification in translation, issued by a secondary education institution;
• A recognised qualification in any other field, issued by a secondary education institution, more than two years of professional experience working full-time in the translation industry;
• Five years of professional experience working full-time in the translation industry.

Qualifications in Translation have different names in different countries. “Language studies” or “Modern languages” etc., are considered to be such qualifications.

Revisers or bilingual editors, in addition to satisfying one of the above three criteria, must also have experience in the field of translation or revision in the specialised field in which they work as a reviser.

Thanks to the Code of Ethics, every person involved in the process, from our remote translators to the company executives, is able to act in accordance with specific company guidelines without the fear of making a mistake or damaging the client or company image.

We are the first company in Italy to have adopted this type of Code, of which we are very proud.

What does ethical conduct mean?

Generally speaking, ethical conduct means acting in a way that is guided not by opportunism, but rather by the genuine desire to achieve virtuous objectives together with other people (and not through them).

The principles inspiring our Code of Ethics: honesty, integrity, transparency and innovation

Building and maintaining a healthy work relationship with both our clients and suppliers is essential in developing rewarding and long-lasting collaborations for all involved.

We demand ethical behaviour by ourselves and the people we deal with, on both a personal and professional level, in order to continuously strengthen our company image.