Ziener Streamlined Its Translation Workflow Across Three Markets
About Ziener
Ziener makes technically advanced sports gloves and sportswear for skiing and cycling. The company was founded in 1946 in Bayern by glove maker Franz Ziener and is now run by the fourth generation of the family. Alongside its reputation as one of Europe’s leading producers of winter sports gloves, Ziener continues to expand its clothing range for both recreational and professional use.
The brief
Ziener needed a partner to translate its German content into French, Italian, and English. The material included marketing copy, newsletters, product specifications, website content, and seasonal catalogues.
The company had been managing most translation tasks manually. This made the process slow, difficult to track, and dependent on emails and scattered files. Ziener wanted a partner who could:
- deliver consistent multilingual translations
- support marketing and product teams with short timelines
- introduce structure, visibility, and reliable coordination
- replace manual processes with a clear, predictable workflow
The goal was not only accurate translation but also a setup that could cope with regular product updates and catalogue releases.
Our approach
We created a tailored workflow built around SmartDesk, our customer portal for managing translation projects.
Project setup
To resolve the internal friction Ziener faced, we:
- configured SmartDesk accounts for all relevant Ziener users
- created language pairs for French, Italian, and English
- established a full translation memory to capture recurring copy
- added a term base for product names, fabric types, technical features, and garment details
- assigned a dedicated AdHoc project manager for coordination
This gave Ziener a streamlined process that reduced manual work and removed the need for back-and-forth emails.
Translation workflow
All requests now enter SmartDesk. Ziener uploads files, selects languages, and receives an automatic overview of delivery timelines. The system handles quotes, order confirmations, and invoices in one place, which means no more scattered attachments or mismatched versions.
Translators work with the same translation memory and term base, so language stays consistent across newsletters, catalogues, website updates, and product descriptions. Once translations are complete, reviewers check quality, and the project manager carries out a final control before delivery.
Quality and efficiency gains
The translation memory grows with each completed project. This helps in two ways:
- It strengthens Ziener’s brand voice across languages by keeping terminology steady.
- It reduces cost, since repeated or previously translated segments are billed at a lower rate.
Ziener’s own project managers now have a single overview of all work in progress. They can see which projects are open, completed, or awaiting review without needing to chase updates.
The outcome
SmartDesk remains one of the main reasons why the collaboration works so well for Ziener. They now operate with a faster, clearer translation flow and can manage multilingual content with less internal effort.
Andrea Dohnal from the marketing team shared her view:
“We chose AdHoc Translations partly because of their experience translating similar content for other companies in the sportswear and fashion sector, and also because they were able to offer effective project management tools. The fact that our collaboration has been smooth with short response times, fast delivery, and close dialogue is just an added bonus.”