Translating operating instructions is rarely a one-off. Machines are developed further, product lines extended, standards updated – and with every new version the manual has to follow in every language. From 2027 the EU Machinery Regulation (EU) 2023/1230 adds that digital instructions must stay available for at least ten years. Two tools decide whether that becomes expensive and error-prone or stays manageable: terminology management and translation memory.
What is a translation memory?
A translation memory (TM) is a database in which every translated sentence is stored together with its source sentence. When the same or a similar sentence turns up in a new document, the translation system proposes the existing translation. The specialist translator checks it and adapts it where necessary.
Operating instructions repeat themselves a lot: safety notes, step-by-step instructions, maintenance procedures, chapters that are identical across several machine types. That is exactly where a translation memory shows its strength.
How a translation memory cuts costs
Translations are usually priced per word. With a translation memory, every project is first analysed to see how much of the text has already been translated:
- Repetitions and 100% matches – sentences that already exist in identical translation – are only checked, and charged at a much lower rate.
- Partial matches (“fuzzy matches”) – similar sentences – are adapted rather than translated from scratch.
- New sentences are translated in full.
When an existing manual is updated, the share of already-translated sentences is often high. That reduces not only the cost but also the turnaround time – an important point when new versions have to be released in several languages at once.
Terminology management: one term, one translation
A translation memory stores sentences; a terminology database (termbase) stores terms. For every technical term your company uses, it records how it is translated in each target language – and which variants are not to be used.
Why this matters: if “guard” is rendered as “protective device” in one chapter and “safety guard” in the next, the user can no longer tell whether the same component is meant. In operating instructions that is not a matter of style but a safety risk. A well-kept termbase ensures that the manual, the spare-parts list, the user interface and the warning labels all use the same terms.
Translating operating instructions: how a project runs with us
- Analysis: we check your files, formats and existing translations. Existing translations can be converted into a translation memory so they are put to use straight away.
- Terminology: we extract the key technical terms and agree them with you.
- Translation: native-speaker specialist translators work in Trados Studio with your translation memory and termbase.
- Revision: a second specialist translator checks every translation against the source.
- Quality assurance and layout: automated checks on numbers, units, tags and terminology; on request we deliver print-ready files.
- Maintenance: the translation memory and termbase belong to you and grow with every project.
What about machine translation?
Machine translation with post-editing can make sense for certain kinds of text. For safety notes and warnings in operating instructions we recommend translation by a specialist translator followed by revision by a second linguist – because in the end the manufacturer is responsible for every language version. Which obligations Regulation (EU) 2023/1230 imposes is explained in our guide to the EU Machinery Regulation.
Your next step
Translating operating instructions regularly, with manuals already translated but no translation memory? Then it is worth looking at what you have – it can often be turned into a translation memory that makes future updates cheaper immediately. More about our services on the technical translation page.
Free Machinery Regulation language check: send us one page of your operating instructions and your target markets through the language check form. You will receive the languages you need and an estimate of effort and timeline.
