If you ask translation professionals ‘Does your company use a translation company management system?' they usually say ‘Yes'. However, when we look at the matter closely, it often turns out that the companies have a kind of ‘working system' rather than a professional tool for managing the company activities. Many companies still manage their projects manually, which results in numerous difficulties and mistakes.

Half way through 2009 XTRF™ set up a research project called ‘Translation Management System - Users' Experience'. The aim of the project was to analyse the system implementation process within translation companies, as well as its impact on work processes, project realisation and other results of introducing this tool in the company.

Sixty translation companies from all over the world were invited to take part in the research. All participants answered questions regarding their everyday work, project management, problems and processing errors, and their own ideas on what could be changed in order to improve the work of their company. The initial analysis aimed to find areas where a support tool is necessary for the increased efficiency of the company.

Our survey has showed that the majority of translation companies work according to longstanding schedules and methods. Procedures used in particular companies differ greatly, but the problems and mistakes that happen seem quite similar and can be grouped into the following categories:

- project management
- file management
- document management
- customer and provider payments
- company management

It is important to notice that these areas are very often interdependent, which means that mistakes made in one area impact another.

Project management in many companies shows a clear lack of both process automation and efficient ways of coordinating collaboration with subcontractors. This results in time wasted on simple, repetitive actions.

When asked how they find suitable translators for particular projects, almost 80% of the companies said they do it manually - searching for the right providers on the lists, registers, in catalogues or other types of database. Order confirmation usually requires a phone call to the translator to make sure they are available. If they are busy working on other projects, further phone calls ensue, resulting in further time-wasting activity. 64% of the companies prepare project orders manually and 97% send them as email attachments.

In 82% of cases, completing the aforementioned document means searching for the right pay rate of the chosen subcontractor. The same problem occurs regarding client rates. It is also interesting to note that many companies admit to regularly making several mistakes when providing the clients with the right pay rates.

Multi-stage projects may also cause stressful situations related to time-management. Many companies do not have clear procedures regarding the verification of particular project stage deadlines, which results in overlooking delays whilst the project is still in process. It is not unusual for an individual translator's delay to impact and delay a whole project resulting in missed deadlines agreed on with the client. With complex projects, the lack of automated file flow may even result in losing some of the project files and data.

Sorting out payments is another area where the lack of a management system may give rise to further problems. It turns out that the invoicing process sometimes creates quite a few difficulties. 62% of companies fill out the invoices manually. They also need to flick through all the projects to find the ones that are ready to be invoiced. This is not only time-wasting, but may also result in mistakes.

Another area, which might be problematic, is monitoring the deadlines for invoice payment. The majority of companies (70%) state that they can efficiently identify all unpaid invoices. Unfortunately 69% of companies prepare invoice reminders manually, which may take up to 15 minutes. As a result 40% of companies analyse the invoices no more than once a month and almost all companies that took part in our survey admit that the inefficient process of sending invoice reminders is the most common problem occurring within their company.

There are quite a few discrepancies between the companies with regards to translation quality. Over 85% do not have any quality certificate (ISO9001 or EN15038). Companies that decided to introduce the quality norms spend a great amount of time preparing all the documents necessary for the audit (70% of companies spend over 5 hours on this). Systematic subcontractor performance management is only carried out in 33% of the companies.

In the area of company management, the participants drew particular attention to indicators, which they would like to analyse in the future. These included: profitability of particular language combinations; profitability regarding particular clients, reasons and number of complaints; as well as the average number of clients/projects/contractors at a particular point in time.

Research participants highlighted many crucial points regarding the management system and methods of working for the translation company, as well as a great variety of improvements that might be introduced. It turns out that 60% of companies do not have a professional management system and all project information, including subcontractors and clients data, is stored in project books, Excel documents or Access database.

All research participants received the XTRF™ Management System, which enables them to automate their work in the areas mentioned above. In just a few months we will be presenting the results of our research - how the participants found the system, what changes have been introduced in their companies and their assessment of how the XTRF™ system has helped to introduce the expected improvements.