Speakers of Spanish, German and French can now find instructions, specifications, dealer contacts and a wealth of other information in their native languages on the Wood's Powr-Grip website. Although Spanish and German versions of www.powrgrip.com have been available for some time, the completion of a French site in October, 2007, marks a milestone for Powr-Grip, which has now accomplished the first phase of translation for its multilingual website. A language selection button, located at upper left on the www.powrgrip.com sidebar, allows the user to select English, Spanish, German or French versions of the website.

In this initial offering of multilingual content, website users can access translations of most Service & Support topics, including Contact Us, Product Info Downloads, Where to Purchase, International, Warranty, Site Map and more. Topics translated under Company Information include About Us and Product Line. In addition, all of the product information listed under General Materials Handling, Equipment Mounting and Valve Lapping is available in translation. In this way, Spanish, German and French speakers can find information on all of Powr-Grip's major product lines, including hand-held vacuum cups, vacuum mounting cups and below-the-hook vacuum lifters.

The primary goal of Powr-Grip's multilingual website is to provide service and support to distributors, dealers or other customers who prefer to receive information in their native languages. Our contact information and instructions about international sales are provided under the Contact Us and International links. Here, speakers of Spanish, German and French learn that they may contact us in their native languages via our information request form: Although Powr-Grip does not currently offer multilingual phone service, all written inquires will receive a prompt response. In addition, Where to Purchase pages supply customers with dealer contact information, while the Warranty pages provide directions for receiving warranty service. Information about How Vacuum Cups Work and Selecting Vacuum Lifters is also available. These translations are provided to support dealers who are expanding overseas markets, as well as to serve domestic users who may speak a language other than English.

With regard to customer service, one of the most important areas of Powr-Grip's multilingual website is the Product Info Downloads page: There the user can download literature on every standard Powr-Grip product, including spec sheets, instructions and trouble-shooting advice. Multilingual instructions for most vacuum cups are currently available, and some trouble-shooting information has also been translated. Instructions for many below-the-hook vacuum lifters are available, and more are being translated on a regular basis. In addition, key pieces of marketing literature have been translated into Spanish and German, while French versions will be made available as soon as the translations are completed. Whenever the translated version of literature is not currently available, the English is provided instead. We invite users of the multilingual website to find out which literature is currently available in their native language and contact us about any other pieces they would like to see translated in the future.

In the long term, Powr-Grip plans to offer a comprehensive version of its website content for each language shown on the language selection button. At the moment, translations of some areas are still being completed. For any page that is available from the multilingual content areas but which is not yet translated, there is a statement which apologizes for any inconvenience and offers the English version as an alternative, while the page is under construction. As of now, all of the most important content from the English website has been translated into Spanish, German and French. We at Wood's Powr-Grip are pleased to make our multilingual site available to customers and welcome their suggestions for improvements.

Byron LaRue has more than 10 years of experience writing and translating literature about glass, stone and general materials handling. He is currently serving as the Senior Staff Writer for Wood's Powr-Grip