Introduction
Too often, the company’s project submissions were bogged down by process and translations were being duplicated. Here’s how Propio enabled the team with intuitive software for tracking and submitting, and translation memory capabilities that reduced the cost of unnecessary translation by 12 percent.
This global Clinical Research Organization (CRO) was awarded a contract to run two large global clinical trials related to the treatment of Over-Active Bladder (OAB). The company’s project team recognized the need to manage all of the studies’ translations via a single language vendor.
Translation would be required for many documents such as the investigator brochure, clinical trial protocol, protocol synopsis, Clinical Trial Agreements (CTA), permissions, legal content, Informed Consent Forms (ICF), ethics committee reviews and more.
The Challenge
The company cited several requirements to define its ideal language service provider, which included:
- Flexibility to adapt its services to meet the company’s needs
- A highly responsive translation team dedicated to the company’s projects
- A commitment to engage local translators who reside in the studies’ locales
- The right infrastructure to manage many projects and a wide geographic area
- A web-based portal for project submission, tracking and reporting
After reviewing several vendors, the company chose Propio to manage the translation requirements for the studies.
Within two weeks Propio initiated management of over 1,500 projects for the clinical studies.
The Solution
Propio developed an end-to-end program including language translation, project management, tracking, reporting and a web-based technology platform for the company’s staff to submit and monitor projects. These services included:
A Dedicated Translation Team
Propio assigned a dedicated team to manage the work, including:
- A team of three project managers assigned specifically to the company including a vendor management team to source and manage a global team of in-country linguists, to localize documentation in over 60 languages.
- Dedicated teams for account management, desktop publishing, quality control and finance to help the company monitor and control costs.
A Localization Process Tailored to CRO Operations
Propio worked closely with the clinical studies team to define:
- A study title translation and approval processes, efficient project workflow for high-quality results and on-time delivery
- Language requirements, word counts and submission times for key documents
- A feedback and reconciliation review process
Technology Tools to Streamline Workload
Propio provided the client with intuitive software tools including:
- A web-based portal for project submissions and real-time tracking. Projects are now submitted faster, in a standardized format to reduce the risk of errors and time spent on project tracking and monitoring.
- Centralized Translation Memory (TM) technology to reuse previously translated content. This has enabled the company to reduce translation costs by 12 percent, expedite the process and build a growing TM database for future savings.
Business Analytics Tools
Propio created “Study Tracker,” a weekly report to help the company:
- Fully understand the status of each team’s individual projects for all countries
- Monitor all purchase orders for better control of the localization budget
- Propio also provided metrics to track detailed financials such as:
- Expenditures by the type of service provided
- TM savings by month, document type, language, etc.
- Savings against previously contracted project pricing, etc.
Proven Results
By centralizing the studies’ localization projects through Propio, the company realized significant project benefits, cost reductions and time savings. These included:
- An end-to-end translation program covering 45 countries and 60+ languages
- Ability to manage localization projects in a fraction of the time as a result of Propio’s dedicated team and technology platform
- High-quality translations that meet company localization standards
- Full control over translation costs by centralizing all projects via one vendor
- Rapid turnaround on tight deadlines by standardizing and automating project submissions, and proactive project management by Propio staff
- 12 percent cost savings by using Propio’s TM tool
- Improved cost controls with consistent pricing on all projects
- The client was not required to purchase a technology platform or pay maintenance fees
Summary:
- 60+ number of languages required for translation
- 1,500 projects successfully overseen by Propio
- 3 project managers specifically assigned to meet all the needs of the client and ensure quality and accuracy
- 12% decrease in translation costs thanks to Propio’s translation memory technology
