Manufacturing and Technical Translation
In manufacturing, the translation is part of the product. A manual, a warning label, an HMI string and an operator training session all describe the same machine, and if they disagree about what a part is called, the operator is the one who resolves the contradiction — usually at the wrong moment.
Why does one terminology base matter more here than elsewhere?
Because the same component is named in four places that are produced by different teams: the manual, the parts catalogue, the control panel and the training material. A synonym that would be harmless in marketing copy becomes a maintenance error when a technician orders the wrong part.
We build a termbase from your existing documentation before translating anything, and surface the inconsistencies that are already in the source. Most equipment makers find several — the same assembly with two English names — and fixing that in the source is worth more than any downstream translation quality step.
The termbase then applies to every language at once, which is what stops the drift from re-appearing each time a new market is added.
How are safety warnings translated?
To convention, not freely. Safety messages use a fixed structure — signal word, hazard, consequence, avoidance — and the signal words map to established target-language equivalents rather than to whichever synonym reads best. Translating a warning creatively is how a compliant document stops being one.
- Signal words rendered with the established equivalent, applied consistently
- Warning structure preserved rather than rewritten into prose
- Symbols and pictograms left intact; only the text around them changes
- Instruction-handbook drafting conventions such as ISO 20607 respected
What about text inside diagrams and CAD drawings?
It is usually where a technical translation project stalls. Callouts live inside InDesign, FrameMaker, Illustrator or CAD exports rather than in the text flow, so they have to be extracted, translated, reinserted and then visually checked for overlap after the text length changes.
Quote this as part of the job, not as an afterthought. Desktop publishing on a heavily illustrated manual can take as long as the translation, and skipping it produces a document where the prose is in German and the diagram labels are in English.
Under EU Regulation 2023/1230, instructions must be supplied in the language required by the member state where the machinery is placed on the market, and digital instructions are permitted with every language version carrying equal legal weight — so the diagram labels are part of the compliance surface, not decoration.
Do you interpret on the factory floor?
Yes, for commissioning, operator training and supplier audits. Floor work is consecutive, because the interpreter moves with the group, and it needs the same PPE, induction and hearing protection as anyone else on site. Tell us the site rules when you book.
Frequently asked questions
Can you work directly in our documentation source files?
Yes. Working in the source format avoids the copy-out-and-paste-back step where formatting and cross-references break, and it means the delivered file is ready to publish rather than ready to rebuild.
How do you price a manual that is mostly repeated text?
With translation memory analysis, so repeated and previously translated segments are charged at a reduced rate. On a product family with shared modules this is the single largest cost lever available, and it grows as your memory does.
Do interpreters need site inductions?
Usually yes, and it is better to plan for it. Send the induction requirements, PPE specification and any certification the site demands when you book, so the interpreter arrives cleared rather than waiting at the gate.
Technical documentation to translate?
Send a manual and the target markets. We analyse repetition before quoting.
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