Deadline capacity and cost for a 60,000-word corpus
A 60,000-word legal corpus must be delivered in three working days. You have four in-house translators, each able to translate 1,500 words per day on this text type. Ten freelancers are available from day 1 at 2,000 words per day each; their rate is €0.09 per word. Every translated word must be reviewed before delivery. Two reviewers are available, each able to review 7,500 words per day. A reviewer costs €450 per day. In-house staff costs are sunk and are not included in the decision. The project manager wants to know whether the deadline can be met with current resources, what the freelance cost would be for the shortfall, and whether adding a reviewer is cheaper than extending the deadline by one day. No quality discount is allowed.
1. Calculate the maximum number of words that can be delivered on time with current production and review capacity. Identify the bottleneck.
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Production capacity over three days: in-house = 4 translators × 1,500 words/day × 3 days = 18,000 words. Freelance = 10 × 2,000 × 3 = 60,000 words. Total production capacity = 78,000 words, which exceeds the 60,000-word requirement. Review capacity over three days: 2 reviewers × 7,500 words/day × 3 days = 45,000 words. Since every word must be reviewed, the maximum deliverable on time is 45,000 words, not 60,000. The bottleneck is review, not translation. The shortfall is 60,000 − 45,000 = 15,000 words. With current resources the deadline cannot be met unless review capacity is increased or the scope is reduced.
2. Calculate the cash cost of meeting the deadline by adding one reviewer. Show the word split and cost lines.
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With one additional reviewer, review capacity becomes 3 × 7,500 × 3 = 67,500 words, enough for 60,000. Use in-house translators first: 4 × 1,500 × 3 = 18,000 words. The remaining words are 60,000 − 18,000 = 42,000, produced by freelancers. Freelance cost: 42,000 × €0.09 = €3,780. Reviewer cost: 3 reviewers × €450 × 3 days = €4,050. Total external cash cost = €3,780 + €4,050 = €7,830. The plan is feasible because both production capacity (18,000 + 60,000 = 78,000) and review capacity (67,500) exceed 60,000. The calculation assumes the new reviewer is productive from day 1 and that review can be sequenced without idle time.
3. Compare that with a one-day extension using the two existing reviewers. Which do you recommend, and what non-cost factors matter?
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With a one-day extension, review capacity using two reviewers is 2 × 7,500 × 4 = 60,000 words, exactly enough. In-house translators can produce 4 × 1,500 × 4 = 24,000 words over four days. The freelance requirement is therefore 60,000 − 24,000 = 36,000 words. Freelance cost = 36,000 × €0.09 = €3,240. Reviewer cost = 2 × €450 × 4 = €3,600. Total = €6,840. The extension is €990 cheaper than adding a reviewer (€7,830 − €6,840). However, it misses the deadline by one day. If the deadline is legally or politically fixed, adding the reviewer is the better operational choice despite the higher cost. Non-cost factors include reviewer availability at short notice, fatigue and error risk from three reviewers working in parallel, handover time, and whether a one-day delay triggers downstream penalties or reputational damage.