Translation companies might have thae same reaction to eliminating DTP revenue as someone seeing this Blake painting for the first time. After all, DTP expense can account for up to 50% of the total localization budget for some manufacturers – that’s a lot of revenue for a service provider to give up.
We had a different reaction to XML for a few reasons:
> Two of the leading XML publishing systems, Vasont Systems and Astoria Development, are part of EnCompass Content Solutions – we have the tools and know-how to implement these systems.
> We audit our own work and serve as third-party auditor for several large device manufacturers. We know that approximately 50% of the error risk in a translation production process is due to formatting – eliminate formatting and you eliminate risk.
> It’s just the right thing to do: manufacturers are working to expand their markets by lowering unit costs so that they can serve more patients – helping them to lower costs is the same thing as expanding access to lifesaving devices for patients around the world.
So, yes, when it comes to DTP revenue we ARE “eating our young” – but it’s a good thing for manufacturers AND for patients.
