| Pages in topic: [1 2] > | Poll: In deliveries by batches, do you ever go back to an already delivered batch to make corrections? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "In deliveries by batches, do you ever go back to an already delivered batch to make corrections?".
This poll was originally submitted by Martine Soulet. View the poll results »
| | | | Mary Worby 
United Kingdom
Local time: 10:30
German to English
+ ...
I will normally flag any changes that need to be made up with the customer, as they may already have edited the files I have sent. If I know they haven't changed anything, I'll go back to earlier files and redeliver where necessary.
| | | | | I HATE batch delivery | Mar 13, 2012 |
period.
| | | | Julian Holmes
Japan
Local time: 18:30
Member (2011)
Japanese to English
Batch delivery is a bitch! 
But I do tell the customer which words have to be changed unconditionally in files I have already delivered and that I will update terminology in subsequent deliveries.
Happy translating!
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neilmac
Spain
Local time: 11:30
Spanish to English
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Er, I originally said yes sometimes, but maybe I wasn't understanding what the query meant by "batch delivery".
For example, today I'm working on magazine articles for a regular client. They send me the files to translate in lots of 4 files per email, and I translate and send them back in replies to the same email, so that we can keep track of them as they are always in a rush and a bit scatty (the files tend to have similar names too, which doesn't help). Occasionally I'll have to... See more Er, I originally said yes sometimes, but maybe I wasn't understanding what the query meant by "batch delivery".
For example, today I'm working on magazine articles for a regular client. They send me the files to translate in lots of 4 files per email, and I translate and send them back in replies to the same email, so that we can keep track of them as they are always in a rush and a bit scatty (the files tend to have similar names too, which doesn't help). Occasionally I'll have to change some minor detail, like a company name or some exotic spelling, usually because the original has been erroneous in some way, as the original texts are drafted in a hurry too, from several source languages.
More haste, less speed, but try telling that to these people...
PS: If it refers to translation of " chunks" of text from larger contexts, e.g. software strings, then yes. I have one client who regularly sends me chunks of plain text EDI software strings via an email link to their own online platform which I translate and sent back. One email may contain a link to a "batch" of files which may be one or several, it varies; then, each file has a column of "native" strings (usually in Spanish, but last week some turned up in Dutch which I translated anyway, even though it is not one of my languages, as they were quite simple phrases) which I have to translate in a parallel column (the interface looks a bit like Deja Vu). The main problem is that there is usually little or no context to help decide what the appropriate meaning is and sometimes the strings can be very cryptic, so for example the other day the client told me we had to change some things and we had to go back to some archive files and change them. It doesn't happen a lot, thank goodness, because the process of somebody noticing something, me notifying the client or vice versa, then waiting for them to decide what the solution is and get back to me, etc, takes a lot of time and quite frankly I'd rather be doing something else...
[Edited at 2012-03-14 07:09 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Ty Kendall
United Kingdom
Local time: 10:30
Hebrew to English
| Clarification | Mar 13, 2012 |
Neilmac said:
Er, I originally said yes sometimes, but maybe I wasn't understanding what the query meant by "batch delivery".
I also struggled with the concept. What exactly is meant by "batch delivery"?
I'm not sure how this is any different from having a Eureka! moment with something you have recently submitted and then send the "correction" or preferable alternative to the client (usually during the first 48-72 hours when terminology is being negotiated post submission).
[Edited at 2012-03-13 10:48 GMT]
| | | | Julian Holmes
Japan
Local time: 18:30
Member (2011)
Japanese to English
| Yes, needs clarification | Mar 13, 2012 |
[quote]Ty Kendall wrote:
I also struggled with the concept. What exactly is meant by "batch delivery"?
I interpreted this as follows:
A client sends you a big project, say, an operation or user's manual, comprising many chapters or sections, and the client wants you to send each chapter back as it is translated and proofed because of a tight deadline.
i.e. Delivery by individual component parts of a big project vs delivery of the entire project when it has been finally translated/proofed
in which case, my answer to this poll is still "No" because the customer is placing a big burden on the translator in terms of quality and time.
This is what "batch delivery" means to me in the field of technical translation.
Any other ideas, anybody?
| | | | | Delivering a translation in chunks | Mar 13, 2012 |
is best avoided, if the client can be persuaded of this. It can easily happen that a term or phrase recurs in the last file in the batch in a slightly new light that brings an improved translation to mind. It may not be in the client's interest for them to start using the first chunk before the final one has been delivered, as they may incur rework (e.g. having to re-typeset the first chapter of a book translation).
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| Yes sometimes.. | Mar 13, 2012 |
precisely the reason why I do not prefer batch deliveries. I do not give a guarantee to my client that the earlier ones would be the last version of the translation and that I should be allowed to suggest improvements later on. In most cases the client agrees to the condition. Many of my PMs inform me that they want it in batches to enable them to start the DTP and save time. Normally the files come back post DTP for a final check and they do not object to small improvements at that stage, speci... See more precisely the reason why I do not prefer batch deliveries. I do not give a guarantee to my client that the earlier ones would be the last version of the translation and that I should be allowed to suggest improvements later on. In most cases the client agrees to the condition. Many of my PMs inform me that they want it in batches to enable them to start the DTP and save time. Normally the files come back post DTP for a final check and they do not object to small improvements at that stage, specially when the deliveries were in batch mode. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Nikki Graham
United Kingdom
Local time: 10:30
Spanish to English
| Also hate this | Mar 13, 2012 |
End clients obviously don't realise what's involved in a translation or how long it takes, and expect documents to be completed in record speed, which means agency asks you to deliver bit by bit. I very often change my mind about some term or other once I get further down the line, and either send the corrected file or highlight term in an email for them to correct their end if it has already been through "quality control".
| | | | Allison Wright (X)
Portugal
Local time: 10:30
| Have never agreed to this method | Mar 13, 2012 |
Except once, where it was not material to the final outcome - self-contained batches, so to speak.
Macro-translation:
Aha! moments often occur when you have a better overview of the entire project - and that better overview may only occur on your second proofreading. Also, minor tweaks and stylistic cohesion and other uniformity issues cannot be addressed 100% until you are in the proofreading stage.
I like to "have control" over a text until I am truly finished with it... See more Except once, where it was not material to the final outcome - self-contained batches, so to speak.
Macro-translation:
Aha! moments often occur when you have a better overview of the entire project - and that better overview may only occur on your second proofreading. Also, minor tweaks and stylistic cohesion and other uniformity issues cannot be addressed 100% until you are in the proofreading stage.
I like to "have control" over a text until I am truly finished with it; the client is welcome to do what he or she wills thereafter. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Alison Sabedoria (X)
United Kingdom
French to English
+ ...
| Doing it right now! | Mar 13, 2012 |
But I agree it's best avoided.
I'm translating a large on-line catalogue for a direct client, which - for any number of reasons - the client and I both preferred to manage in chunks (about a week's work at a time). But we are both aware that this is likely to lead to a few revisions in the later stages. Only 2 major glitches have come to light so far (category definitions that just don't correspond between English and French), but we'll see...
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Simon Bruni
United Kingdom
Local time: 10:30
Member (2009)
Spanish to English
| Odd terminology | Mar 13, 2012 |
I would have thought "batch delivery" meant sending several documents together as a batch.
batch
■ noun a quantity or consignment of goods produced at one time.
Surely this is the opposite to dividing the product into several parts and sending the parts at different times?
| | | | Julian Holmes
Japan
Local time: 18:30
Member (2011)
Japanese to English
| Hmm, nice point | Mar 13, 2012 |
Simon Bruni wrote:
I would have thought "batch delivery" meant sending several documents together as a batch.
batch
■ noun a quantity or consignment of goods produced at one time.
Surely this is the opposite to dividing the product into several parts and sending the parts at different times?
Hmm, nice point, Simon. Maybe "staggered delivery" would have been the more appropriate wording.
Worrying about the right choice of words is our job, I suppose. 
| | | | Martine Soulet (X)
France
Local time: 11:30
English to French
+ ...
| Very strange | Mar 13, 2012 |
I suggested this poll almost 5 years ago... Strange how it comes forward now.
Anyway, thanks to everybody to answer it, even if I finally no longer do batch or chunk or partial deliveries in my work.
Best regards,
Martine
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