For businesses who have complex translation processes, it can be unclear which best practices should be followed while organizing these projects.
Often, systems and workflows are put into place on an ad-hoc basis, leaving your company with a solution that’s far from perfect. But there’s no need to feel overwhelmed!
In this article, we’ll discuss some of the challenges that you might run into while handling your company’s translation projects, and introduce the Acolad Project Solutions service, which was created with handling major language and localization needs in mind.
4. A success story from one of our clients
Your business may work with a variety of Language Service Providers (LSPs) around the globe so it can handle a range of language projects for different industries and markets. Larger companies tend to work with multiple translation agencies in order to be certain that they can translate their projects within their deadlines. The people at your company who liaise with these translation agencies may find that this multiplies their work if they have many projects on the go with various agencies and project managers. There are a few different approaches to this challenge, including centralizing your translation project management and having a single person or group of people be the point of contact for all LSPs and your company’s internal stakeholders. Another solution would be to designate specific contact people on your team for each LSP that you work with, so they are able to easily follow up on projects with that specific translation agency. Alternatively, Acolad Project Solutions can handle this for you through the creation of a single Language Service Center which manages the coordination, supervision and planning of all your translation vendors.
When you design your company’s professional translation process, you may quickly realize that the workflow that seemed perfect on paper is not as efficient in real life. Efficiency is one of the key areas that can be a challenge when it comes to large language projects with multiple stakeholders. It can often take an impartial observer to point out inefficiencies and areas for improvement in your translation workflows. Of course, the goal is always to boost your efficiency and turnaround times while maintaining a high level of quality. With this goal in mind, it may be helpful to regularly review your workflows with a group of colleagues in order to reflect on your processes and continuously improve them. If you’d prefer to bring in an external consultant, the Acolad Project Solutions team offers workflow design/implementation services that will leave you with optimized and highly efficient processes.
There are many staffing options available for your translation projects, and every company has a different setup. An in-house translation or project management team could be the best option for your company if you have regular translation projects and need the translators or project managers to work alongside your staff. However, it can be time-consuming to manage recruitment and training for the translators on your team. Another option is an external translation center, which can be beneficial when your translation needs are unpredictable and you require more flexibility. Another solution that falls somewhere in the middle could be selecting an external provider to handle the setup and staffing of your language team. In addition, since it can be time-consuming to keep up to date with the newest trends and technology on the market, APS can take care of this for you by implementing the latest systems for your team.
Here’s an example of a project that Acolad Project Solutions worked on for one of our clients, a leading multinational company. They required assistance coordinating their daily and global translation projects. The challenges they faced included working with over 50 translation vendors around the world and coordinating over 20 predefined workflows and multiple translation resources. Our client had a wide range of documents that needed to be translated, including marketing, legal, e-learning, and technical documentation. They also required support with voiceover and interpretation projects.
All of these factors influenced their need for an external language service center. The creation of this infrastructure involved multiple steps, including registering a subsidiary, finding an office space, hiring and training over 30 employees, and optimizing the setup of this department, while providing advice and suggestions to the client. The final result was a centralized off-campus language service center that was able to efficiently manage all of their workflows, data and services.
A complex project like this would have been challenging for our client to accomplish internally without hiring new staff to handle the project, which would have caused delays and extra costs. Our Project Solutions team were able to complete all of these tasks quickly and efficiently, thanks to a dedicated team of over 30 project managers with extensive language industry experience.
Optimizing your company’s professional translation and interpretation workflows is an ongoing process that should be centered around gaining efficiency while maintaining or improving quality. One of the best ways to improve your company’s processes is to reflect on them regularly and make sure that they are meeting all of your needs. In situations like the ones our client faced, where a new external language department was needed, working with a specialist might be the best solution. At Acolad, our Project Solutions services are designed to improve the way that businesses handle the coordination of their multilingual projects, and our team of experts will provide you with a customized solution that meets all of your business’ needs.
Learn more about Acolad Project Solutions by watching this video: