The Translation Business Goes High Tech As Globalization Spurs Demand

Excerpted From The Miami Herald - June 30, 2003

In recent years, the industry has begun to consolidate, and it now has its own 900-pound gorillas.

Among them is New York-based TransPerfect, which has 19 offices around the world -- including one in Miami. With $25 million in revenue in 2002, it's among the world's largest translation companies.

TransPerfect's blue-chip client list includes ExxonMobil and Coca-Cola.

Elizabeth Elting, President and CEO of TransPerfect, said the company's Fortune 500 clients now have higher expectations than in the past and expect to see specialization in their industries from a translation company.

"Our goal has been to transform the industry, make it more sophisticated than the mom-and-pop industry it had been," she said, "and it's working."

TransPerfect, which was founded in 1992, expects each of its offices to make more money this year, contributing to an overall 35 percent increase in revenue in 2003. The Miami office has been a solid performer. "In fact, we're about to add staff to it," said Elting.

With the advent of the Internet, small companies can set themselves up with marketing material pretty quickly, she said. But it's difficult for customers to gauge the quality of a firm's work through a website.

—D.E. Léger

About TransPerfect
With revenue of over $250 million, TransPerfect is the largest privately held language services provider in the world. From offices in 66 cities on 5 continents, TransPerfect offers a full range of services in over 100 languages to multinationals worldwide. With a global network of over 4,000 linguists and subject-area specialists, TransPerfect is the largest translation company to be fully ISO 9001:2008 and EN 15038:2006 certified. TransPerfect is headquartered in New York and has regional headquarters in London and Hong Kong. For more information, please visit our website at www.transperfect.com.