Case Study 2 : Company B
Major software company B used to carry out translations internally. This time KI launches and completes a new style project spanning 8 months with home based translators connected by a virtual network. Despite starting with only 1. KI secures and trains 40＋ translators before the deadline.
Problems
Company B is a major software company that had huge translation needs for a software user interface that it had developed. Numerous project restrictions, including on which tools could be used, and work that was not only voluminous but also arrived in highly irregular waves resulted in a situation that could not usually be handled by a single company. Up until this point, whenever a translation was necessary a team of translators had been assembled to carry out translations, but schedule management, quality control and other such tasks undertaken by the company’s employees had become very complex and a very large burden.
Work on the order from company B started with the creation of a remote translation environment, and processes including schedule management and quality control that had previously been carried out by Company B were gradually handed over to KI, who were tasked with completing a massive project of more than eight million words on time and to a high level of quality.
Solving Problems
Creating a remote working environment included many technological challenges, including the establishment of a dual virtual network to connect home-based translators to KI and KI to Company B. For the KI technical staff this was unknown territory but the project could not be started without establishing such a remote working environment. Work progressed rapidly in order to meet the implementation deadline which had been set for the end of the year, and with a great deal of effort a remote working environment using a virtual network was finally completed on time. Translators were directly connected to KI and Company B’s overseas servers as well as those located in Japan. Remote translation work on a global scale had become possible.
KI then embarked on a one company mission to undertake and finish this huge eight million word project, but despite the formation of a dedicated team, the eight month project started with only two dedicated project managers and a single translator. Due to the fact that this project required specialist knowledge relating to areas that did not fall into any of the fields KI listed amongst its specialties, the project started with no suitable registered translators.
With the aid of the customer, KI began making efforts to secure the services of more than 40 translators in the opening phase of the project. With an impending deadline, these talented translators were hired and trained before being thrown into action. Along with the recruitment of translators, KI also implemented other innovative ideas, such as the establishment of work flow layout and the use of a web based Q&A portal.
A tough battle to meet the project deadline ensued, and despite a massive increase in work volume just before the actual deadline all work was finished on time.
Solution
Since the end of this project Company B has entrusted not only user interface projects to KI but also many others such as documentation (manuals, help files, training materials), marketing materials (brochures, catalogs), as well as multimedia translations using among other things Adobe Flash.
The KI TAFT system, which KI established as its quality control method, was a result of the process of determining how to efficiently provide a uniform level of quality to these Company B projects.
In the midst of large scale acquisitions and corporate restructuring in the software industry, KI continues its efforts to produce easy to understand Japanese documents to promote the corporate identity of Company B.
