Thales Nederland Relies on SDL to Communicate with its Global Customers

SDL (LSE: SDL) today announced that Thales Nederland , a multinational organization that designs and builds electrical systems and provides services in integrated naval systems for surveillance, weapon control, combat management and system integration worldwide, has partnered with SDL to overcome the business constraints of the highly controlled environment in which they operate.

Thales Nederland is the Dutch branch of the international Thales Group. World-class technologies and the combined expertise of 67,000 employees in 56 countries make Thales Group a key player in assuring the security of citizens, infrastructure and nations. Of primary importance is to ensure that those faced with critical decisions, such as the navy, army and air force commanders, have full, relevant and reliable information to understand the situation and make the right choices.

Thales’ product suite is subject to regulations and procedures regarding the export of strategic military goods. As these stringent guidelines extend to Thales’ technical documentation, this presented a challenge for the localization process, because performing a translation outside of the Netherlands would be regarded as an exported good.

To create and manage multilingual technical publications for its global customers, Thales required a localization partner with a proven track record of working in highly regulated environments. Working collaboratively with Thales’ customs authorities and Export Control Director, SDL designed a strictly controlled solution, with the necessary processes, resources, quality and IT procedures to safeguard the security of their technical information at all times.

“Having successfully undertaken significant Thales’ projects in Morocco and Colombia, it was natural for us to want to extend this trusted partnership,” explains Wim Hellegers, Operational Buyer, Thales Nederland. “SDL gained a thorough understanding of our new requirements and applied their expertise to deliver the localization of our technical documentation in the most efficient and cost-effective way possible.”

“Thales is a great example of how SDL’s solid infrastructure and quality processes can meet the requirements of very strictly regulated industries such as defense,” says Silke Zschweigert, VP Sales & Operations – Europe, SDL. “We are delighted to assist Thales with localizing their technical publications and equipping their global customers with the information that they need to achieve the best possible outcomes.”