How can a language service buyer contribute to improving transparency/trust in the supply chain?

One thing that has repeatedly surprised me throughout my career in the localization industry is how fragmented it is. And yet, in the last few years, there have been many mergers and acquisitions between different companies. In fact, a few hours ago, while having a coffee and going through my LinkedIn feed, I found out that there has been another big move in the industry (the acquisition of Semantix by Transperfect ).

But despite the amount of merge and acquisitions going on, the number of linguistic vendors is overwhelming. There are several reasons for this. One is that the barrier to entry in the localization industry is relatively low. If you want to be a surgeon, some studies, internships, accreditations, and curricular activities have to accumulate. However, to be a language service provider (if I simplify it too much) with a laptop and an internet connection, you could technically bill some money to start a business.

The cost of entry in the Localization industry is lower than in other sectors, so, despite all the acquisitions that happen, the translation industry remains fragmented.

Is that a problem for a Localization Service Buyer (LSB)?

I think it is, maybe not necessarily from a quality point of view, because in general, despite how fragmented the supply chain is, the quality delivered by Language Service Providers (LSPs) is good.

But where I think there is a problem with so much fragmentation is at the level of transparency. And the problem of not having optimal levels of transparency is that it makes it very difficult to establish a good trust culture.

And without trust, whether in personal relationships or working relationships, everything becomes very complicated.

And why does this happen? Why is there this lack of transparency? As I see it, the blame falls on both sides. Shared blame!

The buyer does not usually share such information with the language provider beyond the task to be performed. And the language provider does not usually share much information internally about how their work has been processed.

In other words, I can send a job to my multilingual vendor, who in turn subcontracts it to a regional vendor, who in turn hires freelancers, editors, copywriters, etc.

I have no visibility of who does my assignment, I can't talk to them, and I have no idea what rates they receive.

If the buyer can't see what the supply chain actually looks like, who is working with the content I've put out, or how the translations are progressing, it's easy to understand how that affects the relationship; if there is no way to communicate with who is doing my content down in the supply chain it is difficult to ensure everyone is working towards a common goal. Likewise, if an LSP feels that they are treated as a mere commodity, it will not help to establish a trusting relationship either.

That's why this week in my post, I want to give you some ideas on what a customer can do to increase transparency and thus build a relationship based on trust.

I know that establishing trust is not easy. I am aware of the barriers on both sides of the chain. I spent 11 years working at Lionbridge and then at other LSPs, so I am very mindful of the constraints a vendor faces in being transparent with the customer. Now I have been buying language services for another 12 years, and I know that I can't tell my vendors everything I would like to say to them due to internal confidentiality issues. This is not the ideal situation or the best starting point to establish a relationship of transparency and trust. Still, I would like to suggest a series of actions that can undoubtedly help to improve trust, visibility, and communication in the LSB-LSP relationship.

Actions that a language service buyer can take to improve transparency/trust in the supply chain

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1) Use of centralized technology

The first idea I want us to consider is how a TMS helps improve transparency and trust during the localization process.

Adopting a TMS that allows it to be the central hub of operations between internal stakeholders (client-side) and external stakeholders (supply-chain) helps the different parties involved in content localization to know what is happening throughout the process.

Gone are the days when each tool worked on its own without exchanging data. Now everything can be interconnected. There are TMS with lots of integrations with different tools with different connectors that give us a good idea of what is happening.

Not sure which TMS is the one you need? Nimdzi comes to our rescue. Check out here for an excellent overview of the TMS and tech in general in The Nimdzi Language Technology Atlas. There are hundreds of tech solutions, so Nimdzi Atlas may come in handy for shortlisting a few candidates.

When we put the content to be localized in a centralized TMS, the content no longer travels back and forth along the linear supply chain.

It is in a TMS accessible to everyone, a place where everyone can contribute and collaborate. We can see in real-time % of completed translations what is missing, we have their glossaries, translation memories, chat rooms, etc. When everyone can communicate openly over a robust platform, this positively affects the supply chain network as it eliminates uncertainty.

2)If you are an LSB, give context

Few actions help a translation team make their lives easier than providing the context of the content they need to localize.

An LSP does not have the opportunity to interact with the product all day long as it evolves, nor have access to developers, designers, or portfolio managers to ask them about unclear things. An LSP usually works in a black box, and the only chance to illuminate that black box is to go through the context.

The topic of the importance of context interests me so much that I even contributed a chapter to the book The Language of Localization for XML Press with an explanation of the term in a chapter

If there is no context, an LSP will be lost. A language is full of synonyms and double interpretations. Giving context to find the correct interpretation is critical.

3) Onboarding

An LSB must invest time in onboarding its language providers. Throwing content on the other side of the fence and expecting them to be back is not the best way to establish a lasting and reliable relationship.

Setting up a virtual meeting (or face-to-face when COVID lets us) is an excellent opportunity to communicate expectations and for our partner to get informed.

This onboarding phase is an excellent opportunity to show/discuss different processes, initiatives. For example, what should a localization kit include? what will be the process for updating the glossary, and the quality metrics on which the vendor's performance will be evaluated? All these areas cannot be missing in an onboarding process. Also, don't forget to allow time for vendor familiarization with the product. This is a must in any self-respecting onboarding process.

The familiarization phase is essential to achieve top quality. It is a fundamental phase to build knowledge. As I see it, familiarization can be defined as the process of becoming familiar with the digital product the supplier is going to work on. During onboarding this familiarization will be achieved by reviewing the digital product to be localized, testing it, reading available reference material .... by immersing the team in a complete review of the digital product, the translation team will gain invaluable insight into the content, tone, and terminology. This familiarization is crucial for the localization process to run smoothly afterward.

The familiarization stage is an excellent opportunity to review existing style guides and to prepare TMs from previous localization efforts (if any!).

Preparing a good onboarding is crucial to create a culture of trust between buyers and service providers.

4)Communicate often

Communication is the key to success in any relationship, and that includes the relationship with our suppliers. We need to make sure that we establish ground rules for how we will approach communication at the outset. These ground rules should include several basic principles such as:

• What channels are we going to use to communicate?

• How will a translator's queries be resolved?

• How much time is considered adequate to answer such queries?

• Are there videoconferences between the LSP and the client to discuss the status of the project? If so, how often: once a week, every two weeks, every month?

• It is also important to define whether a status report is needed and agree on the format we want and the frequency of the reports.

• The same applies to cost reports. Aligning expectations on how to communicate and track localization costs is necessary as it contributes to the clarity of the process.

5) Quality

There is nothing more subjective in our industry than the perception of quality; in many cases, we face the terrible feedback of "This translation sounds weird". When the grammar is correct, the terminology is correct, and everything is correct ... but a given translation does not convince us... then we must clarify from the beginning how we will act in those cases. Defining quality expectations to level up the trust is critical

We must establish Ground rules in which we specify how we will value quality; we must explain when the quality is good or bad. If you want to go deeper into this topic, you can check these posts in which I wrote about quality and subjectivity.

- Quality 1

- Quality 2

- Quality 3

6) Competitive RATES

This is always a sensitive and controversial topic. But I believe it is ethical for an LSB to pay decent rates for services provided by an LSP. And I think it is ethical for an LSP to pay a decent rate to its external collaborators.

I am aware of the enormous pressure to optimize costs at all levels. But in many cases, I see ridiculous rates being paid for a very high level of expertise demand. This is not only the fault of the customers, who in many cases set a very low starting price, but also the fault of the margins that the different parts of the supply chain are keeping. I understand that the margins of a multilingual vendor are necessary; however, if a client pays a word at 0.10€ in FIGS and then the translator receives 0.03€, I believe that this approach does not help to establish trust and a good relationship in the LSB=>Multilingual LSP=>Local LSP/Freelance chain.

It is important to remember that a good translator with experience and proper training deserves to be well paid. Paying poorly but expecting a stellar translation is not the best way to establish a trusting relationship.

Conclusion

People who trust each other get better results because they tend to be more motivated and produce better work.

However, that trust, that culture will not happen by chance. Each party in the supply chain has to do their bit.

If you have any other tips on improving trust, starting from the LSB side, I'd love to hear your thoughts.