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General questions about our company

Q: Do you ever outsource? To whom? How do you assess their reliability?

A: Yes we do outsource to qualified and experienced translators. Before starting any collaboration with new translators, we verify their background and assess their capabilities very strictly through testing.

Q: What languages do you translate? Are there any that you feel especially confident in?

A: We deal with all languages, with a special emphasis on English, for which our high quality standards are widely recognized. We are also strong in all the Asian languages thanks to our having branch offices in China, Singapore and the Philippines.

Q: Can you deal with specialized industrial technology-related texts?

A: Yes, we regularly translate manuals, product catalogs, software-related texts and other kinds of industrial texts characterized by highly technical content.

Q: Do you have a recent client list? Who are your repeat clients?

A: Please take a look at the "Our Clients" page on our website.

Q: Can you provide references and client satisfaction surveys?

A: We cannot disclose company names due to NDA agreements with our clients, but we can of course provide data from our customer satisfaction surveys and, in cases where it is needed, a recommendation from a client.

Q: Can you tell us the rate of turnover for your translators?

A: We do not calculate our translator turnover rate, but we can say that while giving importance to experienced veteran translators who have been working with us for many years, we are also constantly looking for new, skillful translators to cope with new languages and fields of expertise.

Q: Can you tell us about your place in the industry rankings?

A: Common Sense Advisory ranked us in its survey as the No.8 LSP in Japan and No.13 in the Asia-Pacific Region.

Translation quality

Q: How do you hire your translators?

A: We constantly recruit translators through our website and, after assessing their skills through a careful check of their background and a review of their translation samples, have them take a challenging test and hire only those who pass it as our contract translators.

Q: How do you assign your projects?

A: We browse our extensive database that includes around 7,000 translators and select the most suitable translator(s) according to the client's textual, delivery and pricing requirements.

Q: Can a client require the correction of a text?

A: Yes, we keep in constant touch with the client while the work is in progress and do our best to avoid the need for correction; but, in the rare case when a client requests modification, we respond promptly.

Q: Do you have a quality control policy? Do you provide any guarantees?

A: Yes, our Quality Assurance (QA) staff, with their specialized knowledge and high linguistic ability, have developed proprietary methods of thoroughgoing translation quality control. By always incorporating this QA checking, we guarantee a high standard.

Project Management for translation

Q: Do you assign a Project Manager? What is the availability? Where is your PM based?

A: Every translation project is assigned a PM. All PMs are experienced in-house staff with a proven track record.

Q: What about your status reporting process? Can you guarantee that you will meet schedules?

A: Indispensable preliminary meetings with our customers and the creation of status reports on a regular basis mean that, as a rule, we do not deliver late. However in the case of a requested change or a delay in the delivery of the original text, we discuss with the client in advance about how to proceed.

Q: What is your average turnaround time?

A: It depends on many factors such as the language, the volume, the content and the difficulty level of the text. However a single translator handles an average of 1,600 source words (European languages) or 3,200 characters (Japanese, Chinese and Korean) per day.

Q: What happens if you (or we) are likely to miss a deadline?

A: As a rule, late delivery does not happen; however, in the rare case that it becomes likely, we will contact you in advance to confer together for a solution that satisfies both parties.

Q: How many translators are assigned to urgent projects?

A: It depends on the language, the volume and the difficulty of the content; but, as a rule, we will assign the lowest possible number of translators in order to guarantee consistency of style.

Q: Are you flexible about new requirements while the work is in progress?

A: We prefer that you avoid making changes while the work is in progress, as this may necessitate an additional fee; but, in cases where it is unavoidable, we respond flexibly and quickly.

Translation Technology & Tools

Q: What file formats do you manage?

A: Basically all existing file formats: those supported by Microsoft, Adobe and Macintosh, but also HTML, XML etc.

Q: How do you receive and return files?

A: Apart from the standard e-mail attachment with password, we have developed our own file sharing system (WISE: WIP Interactive Secure file Exchange system) for the transfer of particularly heavy files.

Q: Is it possible use our styles/glossaries/processes?

A: Yes, you can, by providing them before the project starts.

Translation Rates

Q: What are your general per-word rates?

A: Rates change greatly according to language, volume and content of a text, so please approach us for a free quotation.

Q: What's included in your rates? Please provide a sample rate breakdown.

A: Rates include translation, editing and proofreading.

Q: When do rates increase (for example, does it depend on technical complexity, market value, or changes in job scope)?

A: Prices may increase according to the technical complexity of a text and they also increase when a very urgent delivery is needed.

Q: Do you charge engineering/layout fees, and for figures/graphics/tables?

A: In the case of files with multiple text boxes or charts that can be overwritten, we charge a layout fee of between 500 and 800 yen per page, or per item, depending on the kind of text.

Q: How many times can we provide feedback?

A: When the work is in progress there are no limits on feedback rounds until you are satisfied with the output. Upon delivery, a period of ten days is set for free corrections. After that period expires, we charge a fee for additional proofreading.

Q: Do your rates depend on the project scope?

A: Yes, they do. Generally speaking, the bigger the project the lower the rate.

Q: Do you have an extensive market presence in Japan? Locations - Tokyo, Osaka. Kyoto?

A: We have clients all over Japan and the world. In Japan, we have offices in Tokyo and Osaka, while in Asia we have three offices: in China, Singapore and the Philippines.