Timberwolf – creating and managing a new localization process
When did we work with Timberwolf?
From 2018 to present
What did we do?
Tools consultancy, translation and localization.
What did they say?
“Timberwolf adopted Madcap Flare over two years ago as our new authoring tool. With no previous experience of this tool within the business, 3di have proved to be an invaluable ally.
With the development of new products and the need to update manuals at very short notice, 3di’s translation team have proved to be extremely adaptable, able to react at very short notice to ensure Timberwolf have the documents we need, in the languages we need, at the time we need them.”
Technical Author at Timberwolf
Key stats
3di provided
6
Years of continuous support for Timberwolf.
13
Languages that we have translated Timerwolf’s documentation into.
The impact
- Helped Timberwolf switch to new tools, including providing a business case to help onboard internal stakeholders.
- Provided new Flare templates optimised for easy translation and localization.
- Implemented a new translation and localization process for Timberwolf, and have continued to manage it for the past 6 years.
What was the context for 3di helping Timberwolf?
For over 35 years, Timberwolf has been a specialist manufacturer of commercial woodchippers. As the largest supplier of commercial woodchippers in the UK, in recent years Timberwolf has been expanding into overseas markets.
To support growth in international markets, Timberwolf needed to translate and localize their technical product manuals into at least eight languages. They knew their legacy toolset was making this harder. With multiple products, variants for different markets, and critical safety regulations, Timberwolf needed a flexible authoring tool and information that was easier to understand. They also needed a translation partner who understood how to get the best from the new tool and could advise them on how to optimise their documentation for efficient translation.
The challenges Timberwolf faced
Timberwolf had been working with Adobe InDesign and Microsoft Word for many years, with lots of product manuals published and still containing useful information. However, the transition had to be made to support a more efficient translation process and global growth.
Together, 3di and Timberwolf would need to be patient, establish new assets and workflows, test and hone them, and make sure we brought the range of contributors and stakeholders along with the new tools and processes.
Are you facing similar challenges with your documentation?
The solution 3di created for Timberwolf
The 3di team:
- Supported the in-house technical writer with making the business case to move from Adobe InDesign and Microsoft Word to MadCap Flare as the authoring tool. The key drivers were more efficient authoring and multilingual publishing.
- With the in-house technical writer, designed, implemented and tested the Flare template, so that all of the content types Timberwolf needed could be managed efficiently in English, and optimised for translation and localization.
- Created a multilingual glossary of technical terms, so the 3di translators understood the context and could be consistent across products.
- Established a Translation Memory, making each subsequent translation quicker, cheaper, and more efficient.
- Provided Timberwolf with a scalable and reliable translation process, allowing them to ramp up translations when needed.
The results of the collaboration between 3di and Timberwolf
The 3di team:
- Helped Timberwolf set up MadCap Flare for their in-house authoring team.
- Successfully translated and localized Timberwolf’s documentation into nine languages (French, Dutch, German, Czech, Simplified Chinese, Norwegian, Spanish, Swedish and Polish).
- Become Timberwolf’s trusted outsourced translation and localization partner – providing an end to end technical translation service starting at the initial optimisation, all the way through to publishing.
- Made it significantly quicker and cheaper for Timberwolf to create product variant manuals for multiple markets.