Wells Enterprises — 2024 Catalysts Honoree
Breaking Down Language Barriers: Harnessing AI for Translation
Do you love Blue Bunny ice cream? Or maybe even Halo Top or a Bomb Pop? You have Wells Enterprises, the largest privately held, family-owned ice cream and frozen treat manufacturer in the United States, to thank. But they wouldn’t be where they are today without their dedicated employee base, many of whom are Spanish speakers.
At the 2024 Catalysts Live event on July 18th, Tracey Akins, director of product data management, payroll and AP, and Tanya Gonzalez, senior document control linguist, shared more about their recent efforts to be more inclusive of this base of Wells’ workforce.
With manufacturing facilities not only in Iowa, but on the East and West coasts, Wells Enterprises employs people from a wide range of backgrounds and experiences, many of whom are Spanish speakers.
Recently, the company realized the need to develop a sustainable solution for translating documents that served the entire organization, from coast to coast, in order to adapt and grow the business.
They also needed a team to coordinate the efforts, which led to the creation of the Translation Team.
People on that team, like Tanya Gonzalez, senior document control linguist, have brought the company’s translation vision to life.
To get started, they needed to connect with people the project would be serving.
To make any project successful, you need to have and create genuine relationships.
Because many members of the Translation Team didn’t have manufacturing knowledge at the beginning of the process, they went out onto the production floor to create connections with the employees who preferred to speak Spanish and ask them questions. They wanted the people they were creating solutions for to feel part of the journey and that they were being given a voice.
After building these relationships, the translation work began.
The team found that by using AI technology, they could scale output quickly and deliver the end results to team members ahead of schedule. Previously, they were translating documents one by one, which was extremely time consuming and not a sustainable approach. Using AI made the process much more efficient.
Tracey Akins, director of product data management, payroll and AP at Wells Enterprises, shared:
What we found, and the feedback we got from the team, was how valuable that was.
With the use of AI, the Translation Team was able to translate some 3 million words in a short period of time. Gonzalez explained that at the very start of their using AI, it would take about 40 minutes to translate a document. But then it was able to memorize the translation so that the next time the technology was used, it only took about five minutes. As more and more terms get added, the translation speeds up even further.
The AI technology also learned the tone and voice that Wells Enterprises desired so that it could be consistent across all documentation.
In addition, the technology was receptive to customization. For example, instead of translating Blue Bunny to Blue Rabbit, the AI knew the correct terminology.
Of course, this all took time, skill and energy to build to scale. The Translation Team put in many hours determining the appropriate terminology and inputting language into the AI technology, but it was all worth it.
In fact, the human resources team at Wells Enterprises often hears the impact this translation process has had on its Spanish-speaking employees. They’ve heard that these individuals are excited to be part of the team and feel well supported. This is doubly meaningful because as a Spanish speaker, if you’re coming into work trying to do your job and learn a new language, it’s overwhelming.
Providing translations creates a supportive and inclusive culture and motivates people to come to work every day because they have the resources they need to be successful and grow in their careers.
She added that she’s even been stopped in the hallway by an employee who was applying for a new role they wouldn’t have been able to apply for previously, because they didn’t know how to fill out the job application written in English.
That makes it worthwhile. I feel I'm making a difference in someone’s life and giving them an essential tool to grow.
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