When this global biopharma firm went looking for a translation partner, it had three key goals in mind: technical expertise, pharmaceutical experience, and scalability. TRSB was the obvious choice.
About the client
This case study concerns a global biopharma company that makes vaccines and specialty medicines to prevent and treat disease. Its R&D focuses on the science of the immune system, human genetics, and advanced technologies. It has four therapeutic areas: infectious diseases, HIV, oncology, and immunology.
Background/challenge
The company has a very large volume of translation work, including product monographs and clinical studies. It had no immediate plans to develop an in-house translation department, so it decided to partner with a language service provider (LSP) that could deliver turnkey translation expertise and scalable capacity.
Among its requirements, it was looking for technical advice on computer security and translation management systems. It also wanted a partner with extensive experience in pharmaceutical translation. The ability to handle high volumes was another important consideration.
Outcome
The company chose TRSB in January 2022 for its track record in all three areas. Thus began a partnership that has grown and evolved as the business relationship has developed:
- TRSB analyzed the company’s business environment and suggested various translation management tools, providing insight on each one and making a recommendation.
- TRSB’s IT department implemented the selected solution and provided technical support for client onboarding.
- Monthly meetings were set up between the translation coordinators at the company and the project managers at TRSB. This has been an opportunity to discuss and regularly fine-tune the production process, including language preferences, anticipated workloads, special projects, and more. It also serves to address longer-term issues, such as new translation technologies.
With no actual translators on staff at the company, TRSB has had a key role to play in terms of translation quality. Various criteria drove the decision to enter into a partnership:
- TRSB has a specialized pharmaceutical division with an in-house team of senior translators specialized in the life sciences.
- TRSB also has project managers familiar with the document production process in a pharmaceutical environment (monographs, etc.).
- TRSB’s expertise is further enhanced by its existing roster of multinational pharmaceutical clients.
- TRSB also possesses other specialized divisions that can lend a hand on an ad hoc basis for things like legal translation or marketing adaptation.
Work methods and tools were another important consideration. TRSB has nearly 40 years of project management expertise and is ISO certified, so it is well positioned to share advice on best practices:
- The two partners worked together to establish standard operating procedures that foster teamwork, efficiency, and quality.
- As situations have arisen, TRSB has counselled the company on project management and computer-assisted translation tools and has lent its expertise on issues like glossaries and style guides.
- TRSB has integrated its in-house terminology department into the quality control process.
- TRSB has streamlined processes to ensure optimal workload management.
Training is also part of a seamless business relationship. TRSB has played a leadership role in this regard:
- TRSB provides training to new client-side language coordinators.
- TRSB provides support with professional development. One example is its Tip of the Month for the company’s language services department and intranet.
- TRSB also advises the company on educating in-house users on translation and its value.
In addition, TRSB offers reporting tools as a management aid:
- TRSB’s quarterly reports provide key statistics for the translation coordinators to draw up their budget and secure necessary approvals.
- TRSB suggested making these reports available directly through the company’s translation management system and arranged for this.
- TRSB statistics also provide a useful analysis of costs savings achieved through economies of scale, postediting, and insightful content analysis.
The collaboration between the partners offers a textbook case of how translation can be efficiently outsourced even in very large enterprises with high volumes of work. The company meets its extensive requirements without the administrative burden of a large in-house department and without need to train and supervise staff outside its areas of core competency.
