OPERATIONAL PROGRAMME “DEVELOPMENT OF THE COMPETITIVENESS OF THE BULGARIAN ECONOMY” 2007—2013. OPPORTUNITIES FOR BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT AND FUNDING WITH A VIEW TO STRENGTHENING AND PROMOTION OF SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES IN BULGARIA
Translation and Localization Company arte.doc successfully asserted the parameters and the feasibility of the aforesaid project before the Bulgarian Small and Medium Enterprises Promotion Agency and after the issuing of initial approval a contract for the implementation of the project was concluded in tight collaboration and under the control of the agency.
arte.doc opened a tender procedure for the implementation of the certification under standard EN 15038:2006, delivery of server configuration and developing of specialized software for control and management of translation services in order to ensure integrated management of all stages of the workflow — from receiving of the order, through the delivery of translation and editing to its handing over to the client. Support activities, such as consultancy in relation to the introducing of the translation standard ЕN 15038:2006, visualization (producing advertising materials to increase the awareness of the wide public for the project) and financial audit, were carried out within the project.
The implementation of the project went through different stages. In the following pages we'll highlight the most interesting moments of them.
The project included selection of licensed consultant for the harmonization of the parameters of the integrated system for quality management with the standard EN 15038:2006, as well as selection of certifying authority to ascertain the compliance of the services, offered by us, with the European standard. A quality team from arte.doc consisting of project managers, editors, translators, quality supervisors, and the approved consultant reviewed, revised and upgraded the procedures for quality control and optimized the workflow. After several months needed for the completion of the necessary documentation and hard work in collaboration with the consultant the time came for the actual inspection from the selected certifying authority — Bulgarian Institute for Standardization (BIS) — of the technical infrastructure and the documented procedures for the implementation of the activity. The inspection resulted in certifying of the compliance and issuing of a respective certificate.
During the next stage the offers for providing server platform for the needs of the company were reviewed and assessed. Based on the technical parameters and the quality/price ratio a provider was selected to deliver and introduce the chosen configuration under the predefined requirements.
Subsequently, a company was selected under strictly defined criteria for the developing of specialized software for entering, tracking, accounting of orders and management and control of the different stages of the process of providing translation services. Throughout the entire development stage we were able to give our opinion on the respective software components and their operating, which led to a quality implementation within the specified time limit.
The technical specifications for the software included the availability of the following functional characteristics:
• Translation projects management
• Translation quality management
• Administrating of translators
• Administrating of clients
• Financial control
The translation services quality management software was developed by IT specialists from "Evhod" Ltd.
After the successful completion of the project all of the related documentation was sent for approval to the Bulgarian Small and Medium Enterprises Promotion Agency. The agency approved the submitted expenditure and supporting documents and issued a decision for the reimbursement of 75 % of arte.doc's expenditure with funds from Operational Programme "Development Of The Competitiveness Of The Bulgarian Economy" 2007—2013. For us, this was a key success which contributed to the optimization of the workflow, automation of the processes and saving time and resources in the performance of routine tasks. At the same time the received certificate for compliance with standard 15038:2006 was acknowledgement fort all the hard work and efforts put in from all of our company's employees.
This project also serves as a demonstration of the importance of the successful implementation of EU-funded projects from enterprises in Bulgaria in order to develop their business opportunities and to improve their competitiveness on the national and the single European market.
Last, but not least, the developed software for centralized entering, tracking and accounting of orders and control of the different stages of the process of quality ensurance contributes directly to the improvement of the company's daily activities' energy efficiency — less usage of office equipment (printers, scanners, fax machines), longer life of the used equipment — no use of local server bases due to the existence of centralized database in the server platform. Due to all that power consumption is reduced and the usage of paper is minimized, which has its own significant environmental dimensions.
