Automotive Business

Archive for August, 2010

Why do you need Automotive Translation?

Automotive translation involves a lot of technical jargon. It is important that the vehicle translation is accurate because it needs to convey important safety information to the vehicle’s users. Inaccurate translations may have far reaching consequences especially if car users are unable to operate their cars in a safe manner. In addition, many cars are now being assembled in the same country they are being sold in. Therefore, the local assembly plant workers will need accurate translated assembly manuals to aid them in the assembly process.

Companies that frequently employ vehicle translations are manufacturers of cars, trucks, motorcycles, boats, helicopters, aeroplanes, lawn movers, quarry machineries, public works and agriculture handling equipment. Automotive translation will also be able to provide precise translations on mechanical and electronic systems. This would ensure that all the technical terms used in the translation are in accordance to the convention familiar to the local mechanics, engineers, suppliers and customers.

What Types of Documents Require Translation?

As the automotive industry is such a multi-billion business, there are plenty of different materials needing automotive translation. From user manuals to marketing catalogues, they will all need accurate translation. Here is a non-exhaustive list of materials commonly sent for professional automotive translation.

Technical training manuals

Repair manuals

Technical update bulletins

User manuals

Catalogues

Vehicle marketing brochures

Service manuals

Diagnosis manuals

Warranty booklets

Marketing campaign websites

Compact disc with car information for customers

Car owners manuals

Parts lists

Car security wiring diagrams

Technician reference booklets

Assembly manuals

Who does the Automotive Translation?

A professional translation company will choose only native translators that have experience in engineering, automotive or aero-sciences to do the job. This would ensure that the automotive translations are done only by translators who understand the local automotive industry. It is also common for qualified mechanical engineers to be part-time professional translators.

To begin with, the translation project manager will coordinate with the translators so that standard vocabulary can be established to ensure consistency. During the course of the translation process, a local technical engineer will be hired to carry out regular reviews so that early error detection can be detected, and corrections made quickly. Once the translation project is completed, another professional translator is called in to proofread the translated material. The proofreading ensures that the translated work is accurate and uses uniform technical terms throughout the work before handing it back to the client.

Automotive machine shops are equipped with heavy, sophisticated, and complicated machinery to repair, design, and fabricate spare parts and molds, which are used for large-scale production of plastic or aluminum spare parts. The machinery consists of heavy-duty machines for lathe work, grinding, cutting, drilling and turning, and also conventional or laser-operated machinery for a variety of jobs.

These shops provide repair services for vehicles whose accessories, engines, bodies, tires, and other parts have become dysfunctional due to normal wear and tear. Also, the vehicles may have been involved in accidents or rash driving.

The services may require denting, painting, brake repair, and attention to electrical or electronic systems, which may involve expert analysis, a diagnosis of the causes of the dysfunction, and the subsequent repair. The diagnosis and analysis may be done through identification and the use of testing and measuring tools required for the overall repair.

The staff should be fully versed with all the practices required to keep the environment clean. They should understand the necessity of using water-based coolants and refrain from using toxic cleaners and absorbents to clean the chlorinated solvents. They can use non-chlorinated solvents for cleaning aluminum parts. They should also use pressurized water to pre-clean the vehicle instead of jet-spraying caustic liquids.

Apart from keeping the floor clean and catching leaks before they hit the floor, the professionals should also clean small non-chlorinated spills immediately with an absorbent. This is economical because the spills can be saved for reuse until the absorbing ability is gone. The owners also need to get permission from their local sewer office before letting their floor-cleaning wastes enter the sewer.

Engineers and skilled workers need to take protective measures. They may damage their eyes if by accident a splinter enters into them. Damage can also be caused due to welding sparks and glares. They may also be injured while using hand tools or power equipment. Machine shops should be fully equipped for dealing with such emergencies.

Automotive extended warranty companies vary from one another just as much as life insurance companies do. It can get very confusing for the average consumer that is trying to find a good deal on an extended warranty for the car. Some warranty coverages only cover the basic internal components of the engine and transmission and drive train, while others offer bumper-to-bumper protection that is just as good as a new car warranty.

Many people do not buy an auto warranty because they think that they are too expensive. This is simply because they have only seen the prices for extended warranties offered through car dealerships when getting their auto financing arranged. It is much less expensive when you purchase a warranty direct from the extended warranty company. You also save on finance charges when the warranty is not added to your auto loan.

One of the great benefits of having an extended warranty for a car is that you never have to worry about major components going bad or major mechanical failure. You know that you are covered if anything major ever happens. Car repairs are very expensive these days and it’s not hard to see how a $100 warranty that will replace your entire engine if it blows up, is worth it. That is if you get a good automotive warranty from a good company.

There are many ripoffs out there when it comes to extended car warranties. If you want to make sure that you’re getting the best deal from a legitimate company, you should do your homework.

Fortunately, there are resources available on the Internet that allow you to compare extended automotive warranty quotes from multiple companies all in one website. This helps you to make sure that you are getting your moneys worth.

Cars require regular maintenance and repairs. A mechanic does the physical work on the vehicle, but the service manager ensures that the dealerships service department is well run and managed. Automotive service manger training requires years. The manager needs skills gleaned from work experience, education, vocational training, and certifications in the automotive field.

Service managers are usually employed at a car dealership or a vehicle service operation. Budgeting is one of the chief responsibilities of the manager. They are charged with creating the operating budget, but also making sure the department stays within the budget parameters. They have to make sure costs remain within their projected expectations. They also have to set the goals in regards to profits. Quality assurance and the high ethical standards of the operation also fall under their purview. The manager is in charge of hiring and supervising employees, especially mechanics and technicians. It’s important that the manager make sure all employees are up to date in their training and applicable skills. This insures that customers are receiving the best service possible. They oversee everything that happens in the service department of a car dealership.

Both the service manager and general manager strive for the highest CSI or the Customer Satisfaction Index. Good customer satisfaction is the hallmark of a service department. These skills are an essential part of a managers training.

An ever-increasing number of people who are involved in an automotive service manger training process have an associate’s or bachelor’s degree from a college or university. Suggested concentrations are in computers, automotive technology, electronics, mathematics, and business. Training can be done at a technical college, community college, or through a certification program.

There are a large number of academies and vocational schools that offer certifications in automotive service, many of which can be an asset to a service manager. Dealerships appreciate varying amounts of education, training, and experience when choosing a manager. Education and experience are equally important in a manager’s training and preparation.

The National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence offers several professional certifications that boost an applicant’s qualifications. A well-qualified manager should have these certifications. Many service managers already have ASE Service Consultant certification prior to beginning their automotive service manger training. Having such a certification shows a solid understanding of how to perform vehicle repair and maintenance.

Technical knowledge is essential to the manager’s role in regards to quality assurance. They must know how the work is best performed and problems diagnosed, in order to be able to review and evaluate the work of technicians and mechanics. Ten to fifteen years of experience in the field of automotive technology and mechanics prior to becoming a service manager is an industry expectation.

Automotive fluid can be very poisonous once it makes contact with organic substances or released to the environment. This fluid dissolves easily in water, and just a small amount of this fluid can contaminate a large volume of water. A small drop of automotive fluid is capable of surviving for years as they are gradually entering the water table.

Automotive fluid is to be treated as a hazardous waste, by not disposing it on the ground, in the garbage can, septic tanks, and any other places. This fluid gives off ethylene and propylene glycol, which is used as antifreeze, and if combined with water, it will spread further to the environment due to an increased mobility. This ethylene has a sweet taste that may attract household pets, and when they consume it, they can die in just a short period of time. And the level of hazard will once used in a vehicle.

Thankfully, a recycling automotive system has been developed to reprocess these hazardous fluids into its original form to be used again by vehicles. Nowadays, this recycling system can be found in local garages or other service centers. But with motor oil, it experiences multiple chemical transformation due to the violent conditions to which it is exposed. And when it is recycled, its lubricating properties lower down, rendering it rather ineffective for reuse.

It is crucial to keep automotive fluid from roaming free to the environment. It gets even more deadly when it solutes with water, because normal human eyes could not detect it. So the most sensible solution for this environmental issue would be to recycle this poisonous fluid to its original form for reuse purposes.

There is a dark cloud that seems to hang over the automotive repair industry. It is unfortunate that there is still a large part of the general public that thinks every repair shop is out to get them and that their expertise is over rated. Even in the industry itself, the stigma is played upon. Competitors accuse others of wrong doing to make themselves look good, and in the end are simply hurting themselves. There are automotive self help web sites that bash the professional technician.

Let’s spread a little subjective light on the subject. Run a search on the internet though any search engine for home dental work. It is not very likely the results you yield will give you step by step instructions for filling a cavity or performing a root canal in your kitchen. You will not find dental tools at the local “Dental Zone”. These things don’t exist because you would only have a trained professional work on your teeth. The tools available to them are not for general public use. The same is true for automotive repair, but the general public seems to think otherwise.

Professional automotive technicians spend a lot of money on tools that are not found at the local auto store. A tech may spend $2500 every year in tools for his or her entire career. That is a personal expense so that they can perform repairs effectively and efficiently. They make that investment out of pocket so that they can be the best at what they do. The tools that they use to repair vehicles is constantly being updated and adapted to the technology that goes into vehicles. These technicians spend their money on tools to fix cars, and the companies that employ them spend money to train them on the new technologies. I am pretty sure that dentists are spending a good amount of money on new equipment and have seminars to stay current on advances in dentistry. And this is not the only similarity.

The work that your technician does also has some pretty serious impact. Just as a dentist that does a procedure incorrectly and causes injury, a technician not performing his repairs correctly can cause injury. It is important for both of these professionals to know what they are doing. If they do not, people get hurt, or on a lesser note, miss work, lose money, and are overall inconvenienced. There are many similarities to the importance, training, and equipment that go into these two professions, but what about the differences?

There are many differences. Let’s start out with the fact that the technician has to work in environments that are hot, cold, dirty, and sometimes pretty close to unbearable. I ask how many of us would like to stand under a vehicle with a hot engine, arms straight up in the air for 30 minutes at a time in a shop that’s 90 degrees? Or how would you like to go and repair an ignition problem when its 10 degrees, and have to do it outside because the vehicle cannot be towed in to the shop? The rest of the day you can spend bent over burning and cutting your hands while you use that new $300 tool you paid for.

When you go to the dentist for a routine check up, you don’t argue after being checked that “he just looked at my teeth” and since he didn’t do anything you should not pay. But everyday in automotive repair shops, customers argue that exact point. The dentist charges for his time as a professional. He charges for the chair you sat in and the tools he used to look at your teeth. He charges for the schooling and experience that make him qualified in his profession. The automotive repair shop does the same, only customers feel that they can argue the point.

It seems that there a are a whole lot of people who know everything there is to know about car repair and the business. Yet with all of their automotive knowledge, they choose a different profession. Maybe it’s the long hours, the hard working conditions, the constant learning, or serious personal investment that it take to be an professional automotive technician, but I think it might also be that they don’t know what they’re talking about.

There are many repairs that the mechanically inclined “back yard mechanic” can perform. The simple repairs are fine to do yourself with the right reference material and general tools. When it comes to diagnosing vehicles with problems and repairing complicated systems that require special tools, the money you pay for that repair is justified, well justified. So give your technicians the respect that they deserve for performing a professional service that most of the public is not even capable of doing, even if they invest $10,000 in tools to get the job done.