The manufacturing industry is truly global with parts and materials sourced from around the world and international talent coming together throughout the design, production and marketing processes.
As a result, translation plays a key role in every stage of manufacturing, but it also expands beyond production itself. In this article, we explore seven things you need to know about manufacturing translation and how it can increase profitability throughout the product life cycle.
What is manufacturing translation?
Manufacturing translation is a broad language service that caters to the needs of manufacturers operating in a global industry. Companies that make products have to source materials from around the world, produce their goods and, then, sell them across markets with potential language barriers at every step.
Our manufacturing translation services remove these barriers to help companies create better products, promote them effectively to audiences in each target market and manage customer relationships to maximise sales.
Here are some examples of the most common types of manufacturing translation:
- Manufacturing processes
- Design schematics
- Operating instructions
- Training material
- Technical documents
- Product descriptions
- User manuals
- Marketing material
- Legal documentation
A complete manufacturing translation strategy covers every stage of the product life cycle, from the first design brief and throughout production to the marketing strategy and post-sale customer support system.
Do you need manufacturing translation specialists?
Manufacturing translation is a specialist language service that requires experience and expertise in this specific niche. Subject matter translators are essential for any businesses wishing to develop a complete translation strategy for manufacturing processes.
Manufacturing translation requires a wide set of specialist knowledge and experience to cover the entire product lifecycle.
Working with a translation agency that not only has specific experience in manufacturing translation but also in marketing translation, desktop publishing (DTP), legal translation and much more, is essential.
Every manufacturing company is different and its specific needs may be more demanding than other manufacturers. For example, one company might require e-learning translation to create training material for line workers, factory managers and other personnel.
Whatever the needs may be, collaborating with one translation agency that can cover all aspects of your translation processes and needs is the recommended approach.
7 things you need to know about manufacturing translation
Before you hire a professional manufacturing translation agency for software translation services, it is important to understand what your business strategy is going to achieve. There are seven key things all companies should look for in a complete manufacturing translation strategy which focuses on maximising ROI:
It starts at the design stage
Documentation for materials, safe usage, tolerances and other specifications is crucial in the R&D process.
It incorporates a lot of legal translation
This ranges from patents, compliance, T&Cs and plenty more.
It creates better products
Strict manufacturing processes with accurately translated instructions for multilingual workforces produce higher quality products.
It improves customer experiences
Translated documentation, user manuals, customer support resources, etc. help your customers get the best out of your products and ‘understand them’ better.
It protects you and your customers
Safety instructions, warnings, legal documentation, etc. keep your customers safe and legally protect your company from liability if the worst happens.
It increases profits
With more efficient manufacturing processes, a higher quality of product consistency and fewer issues in each market, manufacturing translation increases profit by driving revenue and reducing losses.
It opens the door to global markets
Manufacturers with a well-planned translation strategy can target markets around the world to maximise growth and profit.
Discussing upcoming projects with prospecting translation agencies to ensure their capability of delivering all of the above in a united single strategy is key. The right agency will be able to provide advice on important aspects such as developing the internal processes to achieve everything above and connect you with all of the necessary external resources including language experts, the translation technology and tools needed and much more.
Our manufacturing translation team is here to help
If you need help developing a complete translation manufacturing strategy, you can speak to our team of experts by filling out the form on our contact page to arrange a call back.