Solution:
General Plastics called upon TechTrans International, Inc. to simplify cross-cultural communication and enhance collaboration on the job site through TechTrans' English for SuccessTM (EFS) language instruction program. EFS teaches non-native English speakers how to speak, read, and write English. The course teaches basic conversation starters, but more importantly, it also incorporates English words and phrases specific to an employee's particular job and industry. This approach provides employees and employers with a more focused and relevant learning experience.

General Plastics hired TechTrans to come to the company's lunchroom twice a week for two hours to teach employees how to contribute to their personal success, as well as the company's overall success, through the EFS program.

Results:
English for Success™ cut the number of errors and boosted productivity among General Plastics workers. According to Vice President and co-owner, David Walstad, "It's well worth the money the company spends each semester for the language training. If it prevents a redo of just one $7,000 part, it pays for itself multiple times over."

The ability of employees to bridge the cross-cultural gap also carries added career and financial incentives for the employee. Employees who attend the classes are on a fast track for promotions and pay raises.

Better communication is good for both the employee and the employer. General Plastics' management has not only seen an increase in English proficiency among workers; it has seen an increase in worker loyalty. Worker loyalty results in reduced employee turnover, which thereby decreases the company's human resources costs. The English for Success™ program has helped General Plastics create an environment of change at the workplace, reducing worker errors, driving profitability, and increasing employee retention.

Bilingual voice communications between the International Space Station crews and ground control teams in Moscow and Houston drove the need for an expert team of interpreters to provide real-time interpretation. The space-to-ground interpretation task is especially challenging due to the fast-paced, highly technical nature of the discussions, equipment limitations, and frequently degraded global communication links. Situations change fast, and space-to-ground links can suddenly become garbled or degraded by background noise. The potential consequences of miscommunication are severe.

Solution:
TechTrans took on this challenge where no model for interpreter support of real-time, safety-critical operations existed. Together with NASA, we pioneered the integration of interpreters into the mission communications process and protocols. We innovated all aspects of the language support-from interpreter training and certification, support rotation schedules, shift and location hand-over procedures, and real-time quality monitoring by peer interpreters to the unique communications setup deployed by interpreters.

To overcome the limited crew time for scheduled space-to-ground communication, program personnel evolved an abbreviated specialized technical language that eliminated unnecessary verbiage. TechTrans personnel mastered the same information systems that flight controllers and other ground personnel use to plan and support mission operations.

Results:
Today, TechTrans provides the only interpreters in the world certified to support space-to-ground communications and crew extravehicular activities in space. In a U.S. State Department review of TechTrans' work for NASA, auditor Nikolai Sorokin reported: "NASA has superb language support, TechTrans must be commended for attracting such gifted and talented interpreters and for providing them the necessary tools to increase their level of specialization".

TechTrans' support for space-to-ground communications has resulted in a number of benefits for NASA, including:

• Complete understanding of events unfolding between space and the control centers tremendously increases the effectiveness of staff members on the ground.
• The ability for both parties to fully understand critical information required for decision making promotes crew safety and mission success.
• The establishment of integrated multi-national operations and control center coordination has enabled NASA's transition from a science customer on the Mir to a leadership role in the joint assembly and operation of the International Space Station.
• TechTrans interpreters' expert knowledge of the International Space Station systems and operations, combined with outstanding interpretation skills, enables this team to keep the US and Russian flight control teams synchronized on the daily operations of the ISS systems.

One of the largest recent translation efforts in the United States, the project consisted of more than 105,000 pages of design drawings, manufacturing documents, and technical documentation. The project was also technically challenging due to schedule constraints and the complexity of the content. Neither Pratt & Whitney nor the foreign entity had sufficient in-house translation capabilities to handle the massive amount of documents necessary to guarantee the project's success.

Solution:
Pratt & Whitney partnered with TechTrans to design strategies and improve efficiencies for this major translation effort. TechTrans led the development of processes by:

• Identifying baseline production rates for various document types
• Developing processes for terminology review and acceptance
• Creating and refining quality requirements with the client
• Establishing an access-controlled work area
• Establishing an electronic and hard-copy file storage area
• Creating project guidelines
• Developing and administering required training
• Modifying the existing document management system to meet client requirements
• Developing and implementing a project close-out plan
• Developing and distributing 300+ (input) templates

Results:
Together, Pratt & Whitney and TechTrans were able to provide focus, drive the schedule, optimize costs, and deliver the quality, accurate results necessary to complete this project ahead of schedule and significantly under budget. TechTrans created an outstanding team consisting of the proper mix of translators, editors, proof checkers, document control personnel, project manager, business manager, IT Security Manager, and IT support. In addition, we successfully ramped up personnel as necessary to keep pace with the client's requirements. TechTrans' optimized staffing contributed to a 93% increase in production capabilities. TechTrans also increased consistency through the addition of more than 3,500 subject-specific terms to the glossary.

Despite a client-driven 49% increase in the original scope, TechTrans completed the project on time, without sacrificing quality. In fact, our quality measures ensured 99% quality — earning TechTrans an "Excellent" rating.