 | |
|
Text only version - More user-friendly version coming up soon |
Table of contents PROJECT MANAGEMENT QUALITY ASSURANCE KEY PERSONNEL
|
|
|
Established in 1997, Novilinguists Multimedia is a well ranked localization company on the international arena. Located in Genoa in the north of Italy , it was founded by a dynamic and dedicated businesswoman who has created a flexible team of language professionals and partners to serve the long-term language needs of clients operating in a global business environment. Our business is privately owned by its management (two partners) and is composed of in-house professional translators and senior project managers who have well developed soft skills and share their excellent communication and management competencies with each other on a peer level. Over the years company growth has been steady and progressive thanks to the repeated business of our clients who remain with us because we have placed quality and customization as our key assets to consolidate client satisfaction. Our business has also grown thanks to word of mouth of satisfied customers, so referral has played a crucial role in the development of the company. Flexible to meet complex customer localization needs, Novilinguists believes ‘knowledge' integration is the only valuable client-oriented approach which ensures seamless interaction between ideas, processes and output, thus creating unparalleled added-value to the final product. In order to approach global businesses as potential customers, Novilinguists has engaged to offer an even wider range of services in different mission-critical areas to meet the multiple client needs. This has been achieved by creating a wide pool of professional partners who accommodate comprehensive multilingual localization and consultancy services specifically designed for companies poised to globalize. The current analysis of the market situation is already giving us a glimpse of the global scenario. Companies are becoming increasingly oriented towards internationalization and must have a plan for localization, including the linguistic and cultural adaptation of high-visibility content and the management of communication problems related to an increasingly complex multicultural environment. Their software and mission critical content needs to be localized and they require multi-faceted consultancy services designed to help them understand and deal with the various issues of internationalization in terms of the regulatory, legal, fiscal and managerial changes to be implemented on all company levels. Therefore it becomes a matter of totally rethinking the business model in terms of a lean organization or " Enterprise 2.0" which works with a Total Quality Management approach. This is attained through a hybrid system where internal staff and external consultants mentor and guide the company in the delicate transition phase towards internationalization. We firmly believe in the importance of creating a friendly working environment that encourages the growth of the staff on various levels where everyone is fully engaged in assisting others to achieve their best. We strongly support the belief that the whole is much greater than the sum of the parts. In order for this powerful synergy to materialize we encourage the ethic of ‘all for one and one for all'. By genuinely focusing on soft skills Novilinguists has created a special and select concept where human interactions meet with technology to build a global working village. Proactive communication and a caring approach with the client during production and post-production cycles is a key ingredient Novilinguists factors in to generate customer satisfaction and provide ongoing business, and that's why our clients choose us . One of the main challenges in the localization industry is raising awareness among customers that a high-quality localized output is likely to drive sales abroad, yielding a quick and positive Return On Investment (ROI). Human interactions , not only financial capital, is the core of our business. Novilinguists management values employee's talents by encouraging their innovation and creativity, their assumption of responsibility and participation in defining and achieving business objectives. Novilinguists' Top Management places transparency, ethical conduct and forward thinking as key values to stimulate a warm and friendly climate, this, in turn, fosters open and honest communication between employees, managers and clients thus creating a suitable environment for sharing innovative ideas and new approaches. In addition, we welcome the contribution of the employee's talents aimed at the growth of the entire business. We can therefore conclude that intangible assets are our core values and play an important role together with efficient execution of processes. A social and professional community: Web 2.0 One of the main goals of Novilinguists is to “human-eyes” economy through Web 2.0 and to shape the business as a true social networking company. Web 2.0 and social networking portals make it possible for entrepreneurs to create a global and local village establishing relationships with different stakeholders. This new evolution of the web allows people to e-meet on the Internet with the added aim of developing new business opportunities and stimulating social responsibility on a global scale. Globalization also means developing a global eye and increasing awareness on the importance of diversity as a way to achieve a more thorough vision of the marketplace where people meet whilst doing business. A marketplace where the social and working aspect is re-united is a better market as the profit aim is linked to the social aim. Social responsibility is the only answer to a strong individualistic “globalization” approach which maximizes profit at the cost of the weaker stakeholders. Web 2.0 could become a real opportunity to “human-eyes” economy and re-establish human relationships at the heart of every economic transaction. Novilinguists is unique for its depth of expertise and resources which are used from a range of our dedicated global partners. Novilinguists assets and break-throughs:
Novilinguists Multimedia has reached a phase of full professional maturity and offers versatile and multifunctional services to escort stakeholders in their company's delicate process of internationalization. Our core business consists of providing language localization and translation/interpreting services in several language combinations and in a wide variety of sectors: IT, telecommunications, natural sciences, pharmaceuticals, marketing, copywriting, legal and patenting, automotive and mechanics, to mention a few. Upon request we can offer strategic consultancy services as we have created solid and enduring partnerships with law and notary offices, in country regulatory affair consultants, tax advisors and expert freelance temporary managers. The idea of joining our core business to collateral market segments which match the unvoiced needs of our typical “global” clients allows us to diversify corporate risks while creating the suitable conditions to adopt the Total Quality Management approach. This "high concept" is achieved by offering a “whole” integrated service. In this emerging scenario, we also act as a “crowd-sourcing” organization which can identify multifaceted professional profiles and provide them to companies who are facing the complex internationalization process. In view of serving our "global" customer with a complete set of services and knowing the many intricacies of the localization industry, Novilinguists strives to outperform in creativity and innovation by forging strategic partnerships with a few dedicated and trusted companies located in Italy and Europe . So pre- and post-localization tasks which include Internationalization , Desktop Publishing and Corporate Graphics, Audio recording, Technical writing, and Engineering, are entirely, or in part, outsourced to our partners to ensure the level of service delivered is of the highest quality. Our policy ensures our customers receive a high profile service as tasks are allocated to companies who provide specialized services as a core business. Back to top ˆ Our customers and multilingual vendors chose us to localize products for major IT companies.
Operating more efficiently in a global environment is one of the main goals of Novilinguists. This objective is accomplished through an efficient and scalable IT environment which ensures utmost data protection, traceability and access control by the creation of different profiles. In addition, a corporate FTP has been designed and implemented to allow uploading/downloading of large file kits to our resources who are assigned an ID and password to logon to our reserved area. I n order to efficiently tackle the multifaceted and complex localization environment, we make use of a wide variety of standard industry localization and proprietary tools. We take full advantage of all the main CAT features so that we can create alignments and translation memories as well as terminology databases. Translation memories can be shared on a network making it possible to deliver a consistent output, especially when working with teams that are not operating in the same location. The client is the main driving force in the localization industry and therefore sets the pace for future trends. Localization companies are asked to provide higher quality deliverables, faster time to market and cost savings. For this reason Novilinguists is always exploring the market for new CAT tools and Management software solutions that will enable an enhancement to all translation and localization processes while achieving cost savings. Novilinguists works on a regular basis with the following Industry compliant Computer Aided Translation (CAT) tools and tries to achieve the best possible productivity gain by exploring, in depth, the most advanced features available for the translators:
Technical specifications of our IT infrastructure are available upon request. Novilinguists has implemented a powerful management tool to cope with its growing resource infrastructure and complex localization projects. Projetex is a comprehensive and robust solution allowing the company to optimize the coordination of the localization workflow and enabling the selection of the most appropriate resource based on specific filtering criteria. This solution allows us to keep track of all the projects in progress and the ones which have been completed. In addition Project Managers can log any localization issues arising from a particular project by using the Note feature of the tool which allows us to build a knowledge base to refer to for every project. Rates Rates are negotiable according to customer's needs and volume discounts can be arranged for large projects and in accordance to the agreement reached with the client. Our global Localization services Novilinguists core skills are Localization and third party Quality Assurance reviews .The company develops and strengthens its position on the global market because it is focused on what it knows best: localization services for Information Technologies (IT) , Videogame Industry, Medical Sciences and Marketing Communication (Marcom). We also carry out independent reviews for IT customers and Machine Translation Post-editing. On request Internationalization services can also be provided. To ensure the best possible output, the company works with the best in-country language partners to provide authentic localization and cultural adaptation of the content so that a ‘whole culture' experience is re-created for the user. We have an in-house Quality Assurance (QA) department, a strong base of internationalization experts in legal, fiscal, regulatory and cultural issues, tool specialists and engineers, DTP professionals and graphic designers to serve the tailored needs of our customers. Our core languages include English, Italian, French, German and Spanish. Other languages provided: Eastern European, Northern European, Middle Eastern and Asian Localization approach with legal and fiscal consultancy services On request legal, fiscal and regulatory consultancy services can be provided as a “whole global” offer in addition to linguistic localization to address international customer requirements entering new markets. We have an external pool of trusted lawyers, chartered accountants and regulatory affair experts who are familiar with global trade and who help interpret and abide by general and specific laws, establish how local taxation system works and identify legal standards. Scope of legal, fiscal and regulatory consultancy:
Novilinguists translators and external consultants are all bound by a confidentiality agreement as well as a corporate non-disclosure agreement. All translations and transactions performed by Novilinguists remain strictly confidential. Adherence to privacy, confidentiality and security regulations plays a crucial role in our company policy. ‘Glocal' Consultancy tailored to the specific target market With its comprehensive service portfolio through its external partnerships, Novilinguists also provides their customers with intercultural consultancy through Temporary Management experts. These professionals act as ‘coaches' for companies who need to develop key strategic areas such as business development and planning, change management, diversity management and cross-cultural mediation. This global approach translated locally enhances the effectiveness of business development and international communication . International communication is a branch of language services known as cross-cultural consultancy. In the global economy industries are now required to operate in multicultural environments whether in dealing with clients or with employees within a company. Times are now mature enough to develop “ newlinguist” soft skills, useful in dealing with people from different cultural backgrounds. International communication consultants working as in-house temporary managers should advise companies to become aware of other business etiquettes. Cultural diversity management is our everyday scenario and acquainting ourselves with the customs of a foreign country indicates communication empowerment, a greater respect for others and facilitates business development. Desktop Publishing and corporate graphics In order to meet the multifaceted DTP and corporate graphics requirements of our customers, Novilinguists and its external partners use all the latest desktop publishing programs, ensuring full compatibility with previous releases, both for Macintosh and Windows. We are also fully acquainted with the use of Microsoft® Office applications (Access, Excel, PowerPoint, Publisher Word, FrontPage, etc.) and graphic management programs (Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, CorelDraw, Corel PhotoPaint, Macromedia FreeHand, Macromedia Fireworks) as well as re-layouting software (Adobe® InDesign, FrameMaker, PageMaker, Interleaf QuickSilver , MS Publisher and QuarkXPress). Novilinguists and its external partners also provide audio recording and dubbing services. In addition to traditional studio recording services, we offer special technical and artistic expertise to comply with the high standards set in the multimedia industry. Key activities involving audio:
In today's global marketplace, wise companies are learning an important tenet about translation: survival in today's international environment is only guaranteed if the customer is aware of the importance of focusing on content writing and structuring. Planning for translation from the outset will allow companies to gain a precious competitive edge over international competitors. Novilinguists offers these services by outsourcing them to a relevant pool of experienced professionals. Key activities involving technical writing:
Pre- and post-localization Engineering services Novilinguists and its external partners also offer additional services such as text extraction before localizing, compiling, resizing, building and testing of the target language software. The entire process is aimed at creating and delivering bug-free, ready-to-ship localized products. Key activities linked with engineering:
Localization and Internationalization Novilinguists core skills are Localization and Quality Assurance third party reviews . The company develops and strengthens its position on the global market because it is focused on what it knows best: localization services for Information Technologies (IT) , Videogame Industry, Medical Sciences and Marketing Communication (Marcom). We also carry out independent reviews for IT customers and Machine Translation Post-editing. On request Internationalization services can also be provided. We offer large multilingual vendors, as well as IT companies, localization services to ensure a consistent user experience for the intended target audience. We are committed to providing localization and cultural adaptation for the following: • software, help, documentation Internationalization (sometimes shortened to "I18N , meaning "I - eighteen letters -N") is the process of planning and adjusting software products and services, still in the original language, so that they can be easily adapted to specific local languages and cultures. A successful internationalized and localized product will always give companies an added competitive edge over the international arena and it will increase sales on the intended market, i.e. the application will ultimately speak the target language of the user making him/her more comfortable in exploring the many features of the product. Internationalized products interact seamlessly with local language operating systems and, will: • display times and dates according to local custom Localization (L10n) is the adaptation of products or services to the cultural, legal, linguistic and technical requirements of a specific locale. When performing localization, we have to try to think of “translation of the whole culture,” not simply translation of isolated words. This includes local conventions, tradition, manner, and common sense; and at times, even unspoken rules come into play to provide the truly perfect localized look and feel . Localization is a complex process involving many steps. At its simplest, it involves the extraction of translatable text from source applications, submitting it for localization and rebuilding the application in any target language. Localization includes several technical activities performed by specialized professionals including translators, reviewers, engineers, graphic designers, programmers and project managers. Effective and seamless integration of these skills determines the success of any localization project. Novilinguists provides a complete array of services for the localization, testing and audio recording of games on a variety of platforms. We also perform translation of in-game texts and scripts which require creativity skills and extensive rewriting to recreate the look and feel of the game for the target audience. Console games:
Computer-based games:
Internet based games:
Mobile games:
Audio recording for videogames Many games require sound recording. Novilinguists provides voiceover work for clients giving them two options: • professional voice talents contracting external studios The appropriate method is chosen based on client requirements and budget. Novilinguists addresses the needs of our international customers by offering comprehensive linguistic services for the marketing industry. Transcreation is the ideal solution Novilinguists offers to their global customers to provide successful marketing and advertising campaigns. It involves safeguarding the original message and adapting it to the final user's cultural context through the use of skilled copywriters, translators, project managers, proofreaders and localizers. Novilinguists not only offers a sheer translation but a completely brand new text where the core is sized and messages are as fresh and effective as the original. Our translation efforts are concentrated on the following:
Before allocating the marketing commercial (Marcom) content to our resources, our expert Project Managers arrange a preliminary meeting with the customer focused on understanding the general picture of the company and gathering as much information as possible on its products and target audience. Novilinguists' objective is to create the background of information required to select the most suitable resources providing them with the appropriate information and knowledge base so that the project runs smoothly. Our translation service applies to any international advertising and marketing copywriting project. Any official marketing content targeted at a global audience should meet the requirements of the specific country it addresses by complying with national customs, regulations and standard forms of communication. In the case of such texts whose sole purpose is communication, the message must be effectively and quickly conveyed to target readers, without losing or altering the original meaning. Such a professional outcome may only be achieved through editing reviews. In a nutshell, the translation must be edited by in-country client reviewers who will adapt it to the company's needs. Transcreation definition Transcreation is the term we use to refer to a bundle of services aimed at those operating in the advertising sector. It consists of the complete set of translation , localization and copyediting services. Transcreation is a more complex service as it involves the creativity and discipline of professionals whose core activity is content adaptation. Cultural evaluation of product names and brands Novilinguists and its partners can deliver an accurate local market evaluation of customers brands. Before a customer develops sales channels and carries out expensive advertising campaigns, Novilinguists can help understand how the brand or product will be perceived by the target market. These are typical tasks our specialists would carry out when performing a cultural evaluation : • cultural point-of-view analysis to uncover historical, social, geopolitical or commercial conflicts Cultural evaluation definition Cultural assessment is the process of evaluating your products and supporting materials within a target market to identify and compensate for any potential cultural barriers, prior to launch, that may compromise the brand's success. Legal and financial localization Novilinguists offers a complete range of services such as financial translations, sworn translations, legalizations and Visa applications , serving the needs of legal/fiscal entities, credit institutions and financial consultants who are performing their activities on the international arena. We can handle major language combinations, less common pairs can be managed on request. We cover a variety of specific documentation:
Sworn translations, legalizations and Visa applications definitions Sworn translations (also called "certified translations") are carried out by native speaker translators registered with the technical consultants of the Courts of Justice. These services refer specifically to Italian laws and regulations. Consular visas can be obtained from the relevant Italian authorities. Different countries may follow different regulations in relation to the above. In addition, in some countries sworn translations may not be required. In this case, a basic certified translation is sufficient, i.e. the language service provider writes a statement certifying that the translation is an accurate and complete version of the original text. Technical localization and translation Novilinguists provides technical translations in a wide variety of subjects and covers most language combinations. In addition, in order to meet the ever growing need of the Italian companies to internationalize their business, Novilinguists developed specific localization services for the Italian market. Italian entrepreneurs are becoming more aware of the benefits deriving from globalization. Hence localization from Italian into foreign languages is a strategic service we offer on request for Italian companies who wish to reach the global arena and enter new markets. Areas covered:
When translating manuals, we guarantee complete compatibility with our customers' original formats. We adopt a production process aimed at saving costs while shortening the delivery timeframe and make use of computer-aided translation tools such as SDLX or Trados to ensure consistency is kept throughout the manual. In addition, we translate:
Medical and scientific localization and translation Novilinguists offers technical and scientific documentation translations in various medical and pharmaceutical fields. We also handle localization of electro-medical equipment where technical and medical-scientific ‘know-how' dovetail. When handling medical, pharmaceutical and scientific translations, a linguistic specific background is a crucial requirement to meet client expectations. In order to do so, we abide by the rigid standards set for this kind of sensitive content where there is a direct impact on people's health. The appropriate resource is selected for a specific project from our vast database of qualified translators. In order to fully comply with the stringent quality measures established in the medical sector, legal experts, target country regulatory affairs specialists and health care personnel can be involved in the production steps for professional consultation. Areas covered:
Medical localization with legal and certification consultancy services On request legal and certification consultancy services can be provided in addition to linguistic localization. This ‘whole global' offer addresses international customer requirements to enter new markets and it is intended in particular for US medical device manufacturers who often export their equipment throughout Europe . Our external pool of trusted lawyers and regulatory affairs consultants are familiar with global trade and can help interpret general and specific regulations and identify legal standards. Scope of legal and regulatory consultancy:
Transcription is the conversion of spoken words into written language. Novilinguists handles transcriptions in any file format. Novilinguists ensures effective project management by promoting regular communication, creating experienced teams and complying with client expectations. We design customized schemes for each client relying on our competent staff and solid processes. Our goal is to streamline the localization process for our customers through adequately trained project managers. Industry experience is the key to understanding each customer's needs and ensuring the seamless transfer of knowledge. Our project managers have a production background and are experienced in translation, testing and engineering. This range of skill sets facilitates a deeper insight into the entanglements arising from a localization project. Soft skills are as important as processes so high priority has been given to team building and collaboration. Effective project management is intrinsic to our success. A dedicated team of project managers works closely with customers to understand their specific requirements and carefully plans the workflow to ensure that the entire process runs smoothly. Efficient and effective project management requires focused and result oriented approach. Processes: • planning, scheduling and risk assessment analysis Soft skills: • broadmindedness Novilinguists follows a set of proven steps to guarantee a quality end product in compliance with the most advanced localization industry standards. Quality assurance procedures are implemented so that the final output satisfies clients' requirements in terms of quality, price and deadline. We are working towards the attainment of the ISO 9001:2000 certification and the Quality Assurance Certificate will be attained before 2010. Close and extensive communication with all stakeholders involved in the localization cycle are the key elements to ensure quality steps are carried out as timely as possible to meet customer's satisfaction criteria. From an economic point of view, the faster a translation is completed, the sooner a product is released on the market. A common issue in translation, however, is the trade-off between time and quality. There is no disputing the fact that quality is time consuming and achieving accuracy in particular is laborious, therefore a proper balance between time and quality needs to be found. • request for realistic deadlines in order to ensure translation, editing and proofing phases are carried out thoroughly Sampling method and spot-checks Sampling is a procedure that is used in deciding whether to accept or reject a batch of documents. The decision depends on the number of defects found in a sample of the document. To use a sampling process acceptability criteria must be established. Acceptance sampling is the ‘middle-of-the road' approach between no inspection and 100-percent inspection. Its main purpose is to decide whether the lot is acceptable, not to estimate its quality and it should be employed when:
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Novilinguists staff behave professionally to establish and strengthen strong and sincere relations with customers, suppliers and the local community. They engage in fair play with competitors presenting the true value of their own services while refraining from putting the products and services of others in a negative light. This allows Novilinguists to enrich its intangible assets thanks to relationships of mutual respect and trust developed with suppliers, customers and institutions. The result is economic growth less subject to the variability of the market situations. The company promotes the self-fulfillment of all its employees and acts in accordance with the applicable law and maintains ethical dealings with tax authorities, regulatory agencies, labor unions and other such institutions. In establishing quality standards of its own products and services, the company feels bound not only by its contractual obligations but also by an assessment of the objective impact that the quality of its services has on the well-being of the intended customers. One of the main objectives of Novilinguists is to shape the business as a true community. Directors meet regularly with their managers and employees to review the quality of relationships within the company and critical issues are tackled together by sharing responsibility. This participated approach has positive results on everyone in the company as it stimulates open innovation, collective creativity, personal growth and productivity gains. The health and wellbeing of every member of the business receives special attention with provisions made for people with particular needs. Excessive working hours are avoided and adequate vacation is provided. The work environment is harmonious, joyful and friendly and mutual respect, trust and consideration prevail. Directors Maurizia Gregorio Diego Cresceri Contacts Novilinguists Multimedia Snc |
|
