From on -demand translation via the Group’s intranet portal to multilingual business -specific applications

PSA Peugeot Citroën is Europe’s second-largest car manufacturer

THE CHALLENGE

As a multinational company, Peugeot Citroën Group was looking to facilitate communication and collaboration between its employees from all over the world. The Information System Director wanted to integrate a translation tool into the Group’s Intranet Portal that would:

  • allow employees to translate and understand in real time a range of multilingual content (PowerPoint presentations, Word or Excel documents, PDFs, email, etc.)
  • be supported by robust guarantees in terms of IT security for the 90,000 users of the Group’s Intranet Portal.

THE SOLUTION

After having conducted a study, PSA Peugeot Citroën chose SYSTRAN, whose machine translation solution has proven to best meet the Group’s needs and expectations. SYSTRAN’s machine translation has been implemented into the Group’s IT infrastructure. The 3,000 daily users are now able to:

  • understand in real time different types of documents,
  • translate technical repair process documentation in 22 languages
  • produce multilingual content without risking confidentiality

Reinforce communication and collaboration without jeopardizing confidentiality

In 2007, PSA Peugeot Citroën launched a new version of its Intranet Portal accessible to all of the Group’s employees around the world. The Portal initially offered a collection of practical services including finding a contact, organizing business trips and so forth. The Information System Director wanted to add a translation tool enabling employees to translate and understand instantly a range of multilingual content (PowerPoint presentations, Word or Excel documents, PDFs, email, etc.). A study was carried out to find a translation engine capable of helping employees communicate more effectively without jeopardizing the confidentiality of the documents to be translated. This second point was key and immediately ruled out free translation engines available on the web.

PSA Peugeot Citroën chose SYSTRAN’s solution, which has proven to best meets the Group’s needs and expectations. Two SYSTRAN translation servers hosted at PSA Peugeot Citroën ensure continuity of service and manage 17 language pairs:

  • French to Dutch, English, German, Greek, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish
  • English to Chinese, French, Polish, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish
  • Spanish to English and Portuguese
  • Portuguese to Spanish
  • Slovakian to English

From a communication tool to a production tool

Translation quality is assured by four available translation profiles from which users can choose depending on the type of content to translate, plus a built-in, “automotive” French-English dictionary containing 25,000 terms. Thanks to the SYSTRAN solution, the Intranet Portal provides PSA Peugeot Citroën’s employees with:

  • Instant text translation
  • File translation (Word, Excel, PDF, etc.)
  • Web translation
  • Dictionary look-up
  • Email translation PSA Peugeot Citroën users can save time by using the SYSTRAN Toolbar, which can be downloaded onto their workstation and used with Microsoft Office applications (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook) and web browsers (Internet Explorer, Firefox, etc.). Initially deployed simply to assist comprehension, the language tools are now increasingly used to help produce documents in several languages. To support demand and enhance the existing solution, a new service was launched: email translation. Due to the often sensitive nature of email messages, the SYSTRAN solution ensures translation is handled internally, guaranteeing confidentiality in addition to speed.

Full integration into the company’s IT systems Since the language tools were launched, demand has continued to rise. The goal of reaching 1 million requests per month has been exceeded. Every day, nearly 3,000 different users generate 40,000 to 50,000 requests with the tools. The dictionary service has also proved a resounding success in one year, notching up around 360,000 look-ups, an increase of 112%. The success of the Intranet Portal integrated with SYSTRAN tools has prompted the business unit managers to test out SYSTRAN SERVERS APIs to carry out more specific functions. The Quality Department decided to implement a SYSTRAN API to translate into French and English customer incident reports uploaded to the system by dealers worldwide. The French experts in the department are now able to analyze reports received from any country, which in turn helps the company improve the quality of its vehicles. The SYSTRAN API has also been deployed to translate technical repair process documentation in 22 languages for the Service and Spare Parts Department, which is supported by the SYSTRAN Training Server.

About PSA Peugeot Citroën With sales and revenue of €54 billion in 2015, the PSA Group designs unique automotive experiences and delivers mobility solutions that provide freedom and enjoyment to customers around the world. The Group leverages the models from its three brands, Peugeot, Citroën and DS, as well as a wide array of mobility services including the Free2Move brand, to meet the evolving needs and expectations of automobile users. PSA is the European leader in terms of CO2 emissions, with average emissions of 104.4 grams of CO2 per kilometer in 2015, and an early innovator in the field of autonomous and connected cars, with 1.8 million such vehicles worldwide. It is also involved in financing activities through Banque PSA Finance and in automotive equipment via Faurecia. Find out more at groupe-psa.com/en