The acronym KISS or ‘Keep It Simple, Stupid’ springs to mind and increasingly pops up in conversation as aerospace companies comprehend the drastic re-skilling overhaul required to keep pace with the march of technology - and respond to the demand signals of major OEMs for new innovations. However, not content with overcoming the barriers of learning new skills connected with advanced processes, carbon fibre composites and embedded software development, the suggestion now being muttered throughout industry is that aspiring engineers should consider studying Mandarin or other Asian languages as well. Increasing globalisation means that many companies now serve developing countries where English isn’t the first spoken language. How can they communicate confidently with a supplier who only speaks Chinese? How do they find native alternatives with the technical capability to not only converse in the local tongue with the supplier, but also translate using international aerospace standards written in English? And there’s always the problem that the interpretation of an aerospace standard may be rendered useless if pertinent information becomes quite literally lost in translation. However carefully it’s worded, aerospace companies will want to avoid the embarrassment suffered by one famous cola drink manufacturer, whose slogan when translated into one Chinese language read: ‘Bring your dead back to life’.
