Login or register (free and only takes a few minutes) to participate in this question.
You will also have access to many other tools and opportunities designed for those who have language-related jobs (or are passionate about them). Participation is free and the site has a strict confidentiality policy.
English to French translations [PRO] Bus/Financial - Advertising / Public Relations
English term or phrase:designed from floor up
Entreprise fournissant des solutions gestion de RH
Our solutions are truly Global Class being already deployed in 54 countries. Our solutions are designed from floor up to be a single, global HR database.
Je ne suis pas certaine de comprendre le sens de cette phrase. Merci d'avance
Merci à tous pour votre aide et vos suggestions. Après réflexion et recherches Internet, je pense que l'idée est que c'est la société qui conçoit l'intégralité de ses solutions ("de bout en bout" d'après leur site).
The expression in question is "designed from floor up". If it meant "floor" in the sense of "les ouvriers", it would say something like "designed FOR THE floor up". But no, it is in fact the design which is "from floor up". My confidence level is therefore growing!
I believe "designed from floor up" in a figurative sense means than when the system was designed, they started with no preconceived ideas. They in effect started with a "blank sheet of paper" and designed a system intended to become a single, global HR system. [As opposed to taking an existing system, perhaps one designed for a particular country and adding bits on to make it a global HR system]. Confidence only medium because it is strange that they use "floor" instead of "the ground". But there are examples on the web of "from THE floor up" where this is clearly the meaning.
OK - my best shot given the extra context is that this probably means "from the floor up" and has an equivalent meaning as "from the ground up"... something like "dans leur conception mème", "dès le début de leur conception", etc. Can't be positive BUT it just doesn't feel right for a HR solution which could apply in totally blue-chip companies to be talking about a "floor" which is anything other than figurative.
Hi Stéphanie - 2 questions:
- is this HR solution for a specific industry sector or could it be used in any type of company
- does the solution (and the text you are translating) originate from a native English-speaking country.
I am trying to determine whether it should be taken literally or figuratively. Thx Simon
from the shop floor (lowest hierarchical level) up
nos solutions englobent tous les niveaux, du bas vers le haut -
Automatic update in 00:
Answers
13 mins confidence:
depuis le personnel ouvrier
Explanation: Sans plus de contexte, je dirai que 'floor' ici se réfère à 'shopfloor', donc les ouvriers, les ateliers, etc...jusqu'en haut de la hiérarchie.
...
Désolé pour la traduction approximative, tu feras sans doute beaucoup mieux que moi !
Carole Paquis United Kingdom Local time: 11:48 Specializes in field Native speaker of: French PRO pts in category: 4
Nos solutions englobent l'ensemble des échelles salariales.
Explanation: Logique
Martine Perriau Local time: 06:48 Specializes in field Native speaker of: French PRO pts in category: 4
6 mins confidence: peer agreement (net): +1
from ground up
Explanation: ?
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 13 heures (2009-02-06 09:12:45 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
Oui, je suis désolée, j'ai été un peu rapide hier soir. Au premier abord, j'ai pensé à l'expression "from ground up" (de zéro, à partir de rien, ex nihilo.) que l'on rencontre souvent dans les documents marketing mais qui n'apporte pas grand chose en FR.
xxxMarilyne Local time: 12:48 Works in field Native speaker of: French PRO pts in category: 4
Notes to answerer
Asker: Merci Maryline, mais cela ne me donne pas de formulation en FR
The translation workplace 
