Distribution Services At A Public Office Gets Improves Quality, Accuracy & Speed with Adlib

A European Legislative Administration Gets 22 Languages Talking in One Voice with Document Automation from Adlib

A European legislative administration is operated by 22 distinct committees. Each committee communicates in its native language and requires access to official legislative documents in the same language before the administration meets. A team of over 800 translators and lawyer-linguists work tirelessly to ensure the availability of agendas, reports, and official records in each of the 22 languages.

This formidable task is managed by the Distribution Service department, whose responsibilities include designing and executing a complex, cross-border, multi-lingual document workflow.

"Each committee meeting requires a set of documents to be drafted, reviewed, translated, converted, uploaded to a web server, printed, debated, and amended. Parts of each document often originate from different authors and may exist in various document formats, and of course, the content can be in any of the 22 official languages." - Head of Distribution Services

Initially, the distribution team depended on content contributors to convert their documents to PDF format and submit them via email. This approach, however, led to challenges such as missed emails, improperly converted files, and the need for a large team to manage the workflow. Furthermore, the team had to manually compile documents created earlier in the process, ensuring correct order, using the most recent versions, and applying all relevant header/footer and watermark data before sending them off to the printers for production. The process was heavily reliant on human effort, and each mistake carried severe implications, potentially resulting in legislative delays.

Today, the scenario is starkly different, thanks to the implementation of an automated workflow by Adlib. The new system delivers mission-critical technical and organizational interoperability to the legislative body, and is virtually problem-free. Every committee meeting is created as a unique event in the database, with each document and language assigned a unique pathname. Users can simply upload their content, in any format, to that path and it enters the workflow.

Adlib's solution ingests all submitted documents, automatically converting and assembling them into print- and archive-ready PDFs. The system applies language watermarks, creates footers with dynamic page numbering, and generates filenames and version codes for each document. Finally, the finished PDF is uploaded to a web server, readily accessible to committees and the public. Furthermore, the system automatically directs the file to print servers to create immaculate hard copies in line with the committee's pagination and binding standards.

The system's flexibility even allows for its use by foreign delegations and non-EU countries.

"Once or twice a year, we have a delegation visiting a developing nation in Africa, and we must support their document needs. Adlib is so flexible that we can easily add a few scripts to an Adlib installation on a laptop, allowing us to take our workflow with us anywhere in the world. This eliminates many headaches when away from headquarters, letting the delegation focus on their important diplomatic work," - Head of Distribution Services.

Conclusion

Adlib's interoperability was the secret ingredient that allowed this organization to improve collaboration among multiple departments, reduce error-prone manual effort in preparing critical documentation, deliver a workflow framework that can be reapplied to other use cases, and ultimately scale effectively.