Miss a single digit in a BOM — and the whole batch is off. Translate a line of HMI code wrong — and now the machine says “Melt Cheese” instead of “Seal Valve.”
Welcome to the beautiful, high-stakes world of technical translation. Here, almost right can cost you a product recall, a production halt, or, worse, a safety incident.
Let’s break down how we tackle the translation of your most unforgiving assets:
- BOMs (Bills of Materials)
- HMI (Human-Machine Interface) strings
- Technical manuals
And why we insist on getting it right the first time.
BOMs: Translation or Precision Engineering?
BOMs are not just tables — they’re production blueprints. And every row matters.
• Context-first parsing: We don’t just run BOMs through a glossary. We cross-check every material, part number, and spec against your product structure and naming conventions.
• Terminology locks: We build lock-in termbases for recurring parts, components, and units. That way, “hex bolt” isn’t “hex screw” three lines down.
✅ Every translated BOM gets a side-by-side QA by both a translator and an engineer.
HMI Strings: Translation Without Breaking the UI
An HMI string might only be 12 characters long — but it has to fit, display right, and make sense in the exact screen context.
We handle HMI translation like this:
- Character constraints respected per language (German takes more space than English — we plan for that).
- No broken variables. If the string has `%TEMP%`, we won’t mess with the formatting.
- Simulated interface testing, where possible, to see real behavior.
✅ We’ve even rebuilt interfaces in test sandboxes just to check the UI flow across languages.
Tech Manuals: From Schema to Field Use
Your manuals may be XML-based, written in MadCap or FrameMaker, or built for DITA systems. Doesn’t matter. What matters:
- Structured content stays structured. We preserve formatting, variables, and cross-references.
- Real-world clarity: We rewrite unclear source segments with your approval — because “good enough” isn’t enough when operators are 10,000 miles away.
- Version control: We don’t just translate — we version-match, track changes, and flag technical updates across languages.
✅ We’ve worked on 300+ page multi-language manuals without a single rework request.
Why It Has to Be Right — The First Time
Fixing a mistranslated BOM is not just a minor update. It’s:
- Reprinting documentation
- Re-validating batches
- Re-training operators
- Re-auditing specs
So we don’t leave room for “oops.”
Our Tech Stack (In Plain Language)
We use:
- SDL Trados & memoQ for structured translation memory and termbases
- Xbench & Verifika for automated QA
- In-context preview tools to simulate UI and layout integrity
- Git & versioned repositories for engineering teams
✅ Everything we deliver plugs cleanly into your tech workflows.
Let’s Talk Specs
Whether you need 12 BOMs translated into Spanish, or a full multi-language rollout of your HMI panel strings, we don’t guess. We ask the right questions upfront.
💬 Need a sample translation or mini-audit of your current documentation? Let’s run one.
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