8 Mar /16

EEF National Manufacturing Conference: Retrospective

EEF National Manufacturing Conference

At the EEF National Manufacturing Conference last month EVS Translations was one of the exhibitors to find out more about the manufacturing sector and how a Translations Service Provider can support the work of UK manufacturers.

In total, 750 delegates attended the event to represent a large number of UK SMEs and multinational companies from the pharmaceutical, energy and engineering industries, with over 25 companies and organisations exhibiting. During the day, panel debates tackled productivity and the global challenge for UK manufacturing, and there were speeches from Ian Isaac, Head of Lombard, Sajid Javid MP, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, and many more leading public figures.

Exporting was a hot topic for the day, as Elizabeth Fothergill CBE, Chairman at Pennine Healthcare, and other business leaders, described their past but successful experiences of venturing into the business of exporting. Ms Fothergill explained that one of the biggest barriers was cultural understanding—something which can sometimes be exacerbated by a lack of language skills.

The question of how SMEs handle the issue of languages for exporting is an interesting one. Despite current research which recommends the UK promotes languages at school level to create a pool of linguistic talent for the workforce, this remains an unfulfilled ambition. If business can’t find the golden combination of industry knowledge and language skills, are they able to, invest in additional staff with the sometimes very vague qualification of ‘language skills? Do they then outsource part of their language-related work to a Language Services Provider and do the rest of it in-house (raising the issue of consistency), or do they use a number of freelance translators—assuming a member of staff is able to project manage the freelancers’ work and manage the content effectively?

EVS Translations was at the EEF National Manufacturing Conference to discuss the issue of language skills and expertise and how effective management of foreign language content can help to reduce costs over the long-term. If you are trying to expand in foreign markets or need language solutions to expand in international countries EVS Translations can help you to succeed.