InnovaLang is going through an intensive period of improvements and changes, as you maybe have already read on this blog. We recently moved to the new Regus offices in Turin, and also decided to revolutionize our work-flow, introducing some important innovations.
In particular, we have chosen a new CAT tool, Memsource. It is a completely online system also performing some management functions, which have been integrated with XTRF, the management system already adopted by InnovaLang three years ago. In addition, the files preparation process has been enhanced thanks to the latest version of ABBYY FineReader, probably the best OCR around now.
To tell you about this change, we will have a chat with three professionals who play a fundamental role within our LSP. Alex is the Project Managers Team Leader and joined InnovaLang in 2016, while Jesica covers both PM and accountancy tasks since 2017. Last (but not least!) Jacopo, Team Leader of InnovaLang in-house Translators staff, who after a freelance period joined the crew in 2018.
What made you change your workflow?
Jacopo: In recent times the amount of work has become more and more consistent, so we felt the need to adopt a more innovative and flexible CAT tool. Memsource allows us to easily pursue our growth objectives as well as the diversification of our services, while keeping unchanged InnovaLang high quality service level.
Why did you choose Memsource?
Jacopo: It perfectly integrates with XTRF, therefore streamlining the overall project management and translation workflow. Memories and glossaries sharing is more immediate, and the whole process facilitates and speeds up translators work. Furthermore, it is an agile and intuitive tool, being entirely on cloud does not take up in-house computer memory, and allows to perform accurate and functional quality checks.
What has brought this change, at an organizational level?
Jesica: The software integration process has certainly made the entire internal organization more effective and efficient, from project management to accounting. First of all, it has removed some limitations due to a lack of communication between the systems, providing a whole picture of the work process, from the customer’s order to the respective invoicing, while delivering detailed reports on the company’s progress. It also made it possible to reduce manual processes and waste of time due to the transition between disconnected systems. On top of that, we must consider that the previous workflow could not have kept the pace with the current InnovaLang growth.
What has changed in the accounting process?
Jesica: Preparing the files on Memsource and sending the analysis using source words unit to translators (instead of the estimated pages, which was the count unit previously used by InnovaLang) will certainly simplify accountancy process; as a result there will be a significant time saving in the purchase invoices check, plus a general improvement.
How did you prepare for change?
Jesica: We attended some training hours provided by Gabriele Brignoli (BRG Sas), regarding files preparation on ABBYY. Likewise, we attended a course on Memsource held by Diego Cresceri (Creative Words), that has been helpful to approach this tool by both PMs and Translators perspectives. Both trainings proved to be very useful and to facilitate the implementation phase.
What did you expect… And how did it really go?
Alex: We expected the integration between CAT and management tools to be quick and intuitive. I must admit that we had to face some inevitable technical problems. Furthermore, the change has been quite radical, but it has pushed us to collaborate even more closely as a team, sharing technical knowledge, ideas and intuitions more than before. We also received immediate assistance from the Memsource and XTRF Help Desks whenever we needed them. At the moment, we can say that the integration has been successful, and that from now on all processes will be part of a well-oiled mechanism that will increase everyone’s quality of work.
Did all this affect the ability to adapt to the Coronavirus emergency?
Alex: All these recent changes have proved almost providential: in fact, despite the strict security measures following the Covid-19 pandemic, InnovaLang has continued to run smoothly. Thanks to the cloud implementation and integration of XTRF and Memsource, the entire staff could immediately operate in agile work mode, with no impact on our production capacity.
