FEATURES
Trade secrets
Uncovering the languages requirements of Gripple,
the world's leading wire joiners company
Do you have distribution centres
in every country you trade in?
We have distribution centres in the uk,
uS, France and India. Elsewhere we use
local distributors.
Gripple has Technical Advisers in
a large number of countries. How
do you recruit them?
They are recruited locally as technical
managers. In the main they are able to speak
English as well as the local language, as they
are educated people.
What practical considerations
are involved when creating a
multilingual website?
Gripple is based in Sheffield
but you have offices in Alsace
and the US. How do you
communicate between offices?
Directly through emails and telephone calls.
Also we have monthly board meetings where
the Managing Directors of both offices come
over from the uS to the uk to report and
take part in what is happening here. Our uk
personnel – from accounts, marketing, 'ideas
and innovation', manufacturing and IT – visit
the uS and France regularly.
Which jobs have to be filled by
bilingual staff?
Senior management positions and sales roles
covering several countries. In France, the
essential English-speaking roles are senior
managers and line managers. It is not
essential for other positions to be held by
English speakers.
Where are your main markets?
Europe, North America, the Middle East,
Vol/52 No/5 2013
Australasia, India and South America. We
distribute in four African countries, five Asian
countries, ten Latin American countries,
throughout Europe and in Canada, the uS,
New Zealand and Australia. Our biggest
European expansion was in 2000 and we
recruited people with language capabilities
at that time.
Do you have in-house language
capabilities in the nine languages
offered on the website?
The biggest problem relates to meaning.
Many languages do not have the range of
words available to replicate the exact meaning
of the English in the foreign language. We
have the in-house capacity to respond to
queries in all nine languages and content in all
languages is generated in-house.
How are international marketing
campaigns coordinated?
Each territory handles its own publicity. We
work with local offices or partners in the other
territories as necessary.
Our local offices provide the necessary
language expertise, as we tend to employ
local residents in the various countries in
which we are represented.
What are the major logistical
considerations when working
with distributors overseas?
Making sure we deliver items in time to meet
local commitments. Ensuring we have
appropriate levels of product in transit to
meet delivery dates.
OCTOBER/NOvEMBER
The Linguist
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