ABB - TermBANK

Solution

At AAC Global, we had to approach the case from three key perspectives:

• Determining how ABB’s terminologists would use our tool, and what changes that would require
• Importing existing terminology and translation memory data from previous suppliers into TermBANK to ensure a smooth changeover
• Providing access to the TermBANK solution to all ABB employees — ABB wanted to onboard users in different countries and units, and of course that process needed to go smoothly.

In AAC TermBANK, you can search for terms using wildcard characters and limit the number of languages shown as necessary. Images can be used to convey additional information.

EXPERIENCE

Irene Fischer was a terminologist and specialized translator/proofreader at ABB and she was a key user of TermBANK after its introduction to ABB: “I work in the Gas-Insulated Switchgear product group, one of 11 in the High Voltage Products business unit. There are around 5,000 employees worldwide, with 3,000 in Switzerland. My colleagues in Technical Communication and I have been using TermBANK since October 2015.

"I constantly work to spread the news about TermBANK inside ABB" — Irene Fischer, ABB

“I use TermBANK constantly, every day. My colleagues use it depending more on their job: in R&D and Product Care they use it quite frequently, while other departments use it less. The best features of TermBANK are its intuitive interface, and the fact that it shows you all the information you need at a glance. It is also easy to handle for me as an administrator, and it allows me to see new users and recent modifications to the term base, as well as to export the term base at any time.

“AAC handle requests from our side in an efficient way. They’re always happy to get our feedback, and they’ve made a lot of improvements, particularly in the export function and user interface. It’s always good when language and software providers collaborate with users to harmonize requirements, expectations and definitions.

You can also make searches based on various term attributes and properties, such as term status. Using shortcut buttons, editing and validating terms is quick and convenient.

“The function we use most frequently is definitely to search for equivalent terms in other languages. In our case, users mostly search for English equivalents of German terms, or vice versa. Being able to see definitions and the source term are also very useful.

“TermBANK is a very good tool as a centrally managed and very accessible term base. If I could make changes, I’d like to have more statistical functions and the ability to use existing terms as a base for creating new ones. Less clicking work is always good.

"Most companies are still stuck in the Stone Age when it comes to terminology work. They wonder about weird translations, but they don’t see that the roots of this evil lie in undefined terminology, inconsistency and unclear writing style in the source text "— Irene Fischer, ABB

“I would definitely recommend TermBANK. I constantly work to spread the news about TermBANK inside ABB, even if that sometimes seems like a slow process. My advice is always to really invest in terminology work and not only to create word lists – and TermBANK is a real help with that.

DEVELOPMENT

Kaarina Syrjä, Terminology Manager at AAC Global, says: “Irene was our main contact and partner in terminology management.

“Having someone on the customer side who uses AAC TermBANK as intensively as Irene gives us valuable feedback and ideas on how to develop the functions and interface. For example, we created the ‘TermBANK Browser,’ a tool for performing quick term searches from Microsoft Office applications, to support ABB in using TermBANK as conveniently and effectively as possible.

“In other ABB term contracts, we transform and edit terminological data before importing it into AAC TermBANK. And, of course, we do term work for ABB, which involves term collection, term production and other terminological work performed in conjunction with terminology or translation projects.”

While all key term information is available to you at one glance, you can add internal links pointing to related terms, or external Web links and files providing a deeper insight into the subject.