RE: Boeing Tech Pubs going offshore?

[Rose -dot- Wilcox -at- pinnaclewest -dot- com]

Len Kirby wrote:

<<
Hmm... maybe all new content will be generated in Spanish? 

Cost per word for techwriters in Latin America are cheaper ...
Cost to translate from Spanish to every other language is probably the
same...

Seems like a logical business decision to me. 
I mean, who says that techwriting source content has to be in English in
the first place?>>

Yes, that is one possibility.  Another whirl-er wrote me off list and informed me that the airline industry manuals are more controlled with limited word choices etc.  That's the type of information I'm looking for. 

I think it is helpful, because some of us may be managers or consultants deciding whether or not to outsource overseas or not, and if we know which types of projects it makes sense for or doesn't make sense for, we can help inform our companies in these types of decisions.

For instance, in an industry where word choices and sentence structure were more informal, not as regulated, etc., the costs of translation and/or of editing to understandable language standards might be higher.  

The off-list correspondent gave me more background info in the industry which answered my question more reasonably than speculation.  I imagine the costs per writers in Latin America are cheaper, but cost to translate?  That may be true, but doesn't follow necessarily.

Also if writing in the language native to the overseas country was the plan, why was "fluency in English" rated as a consideration for the outsourcing?   Perhaps merely for communication between the home office and the overseas workers, but again, the article itself did not inform me of that.

However, based on Len's idea, I would consider it one of the possibilities and if I ever need to look into outsourcing overseas would look into the associated costs of translation.  

My main critique was of the article more than the idea itself.  I am truly curious as to how the business model looks and don't have any background in that type of manual.  The clarity that the industry manuals are more controlled than the manuals I am used to helps me imagine how such a plan may be feasible.

BTW, I didn't participate in the loyalty cuts type of discussions because to me it is a non-issue and I wasn't trying to bring up the issue again.  I was interested in an analysis of the article and the information in the article.

Thanks.



Rose A. Wilcox
CHQ, 14th Floor
Tranz1 QA/Documentation
602-250-2435
Rose -dot- Wilcox -at- PinnacleWest -dot- com
Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear - not absence of fear. -Mark Twain (1835 - 1910)






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