31 Mar Translation in Industry: evolution and improvements
If you work in industry, you’re likely aware of the importance of translation to safely sell and use goods and products. What if we told you that thanks to the amazing improvements in machine translation in industry, it might be possible to save on translation costs without sacrificing quality?
Translation (or machine translation) in industry covers all documents and texts used in the engineering, manufacturing, energy, technology and other sectors. Documents that need versions in other languages often include instruction manuals, data sheets, patents, technical specifications, regulatory documents and contracts.
The industrial sphere is extremely vast, and equally profitable. For example, Italy is considered the second most competitive country in the world in the manufacturing sector. Very often, companies in the industrial sector establish relationships with foreign colleagues, manufacturers and suppliers. Resulting in very important collaborations that sometimes lead to international mergers and acquisitions.
In this context, it therefore becomes essential to have correct, high-quality translations of all the necessary documents. We have already discussed the peculiarities of translations for EU exports, illustrating the basic characteristics that a translator in this field should have. In today’s article, we will instead focus specifically on the use of machine translation in industry, presenting the advantages of this choice and the improvements in MT systems in recent years.
We at Creative Words have been talking about the potential and benefits of Machine Translation for years. While we believe that it cannot fully replace a human translator, we are convinced that in many cases, it can help to speed up work and keep costs down without compromising final quality.
Industrial translation: key features
Before delving into the peculiarities related to the use of machine translation in industry, let’s take a look at the general characteristics and challenges of translation in this field.
- Use of specific terminology: specific technical terminology is often used in industry, which will need to be translated precisely and accurately. It is essential to rely on a translator who has a high level of knowledge of the relevant industry sector and can accurately transpose all the technicalities.
- References to regulations and laws: industry translations often refer to specific regulations and laws, which may vary from country to country or be the same in both nations. An industrial translator will therefore need to be able to ensure thorough knowledge of the regulations in force in both the source and target countries.
- Descriptions of production procedures and processes: industrial texts accurately describe technical and production procedures. Without thorough knowledge of the subject matter, a translator may not be able to accurately transpose these operations into the target language.
Advantages and possibilities
Having ascertained the peculiarities of industrial translation, let’s now take a look at the peculiarities of using Machine Translation in industry:
- Time and cost savings: these are likely among the most important benefits. Thanks to MT you can translate texts and documents in minutes, saving time and money. Of course, given the complexity of the topics covered, MT should be used in industry only for routine documents or those of lower priority. So that human translators have more time to focus on complex and important texts.
- Multilingual translations: if you happen to need translations to or from minor and uncommon languages from time to time, MT may prove useful in understanding the meaning of such documents without necessarily having to hire a new translator. Of course, for more important and complex texts it will be regardless necessary to hire an expert who can take care of reviewing the translation output.
- Reduced time for the translator: machine translation can be used to facilitate the human translator’s work. By providing a translated first draft that the professional can then analyse, correct and improve. This operation is known as MTPE (Machine Translation Post-Editing). It is one of the services that Creative Words has been offering for almost a decade.
Improvements in machine translation in industry
When it comes to machine translation, especially machine translation in industry, there’s often a tendency to regard these kinds of technologies sceptically.
In fact, while in many cases review by a human translator is necessary to ensure the quality of the final product, machine translation systems have significantly improved. And in certain cases (repetitive documents, instruction manuals) the MT output is even comparable to that of a professional translator.
But what, specifically, are the aspects in which machine translation has improved in recent years?
- Accuracy and precision: over the years, with more data available for “training,” machine translations have been able to make great strides in terms of reliability and lexical consistency, greatly reducing terminological errors and ensuring accuracy even when using specific terminology.
- Output consistency and fluency: by constantly learning from the context MT has improved dramatically in recent years. With regard to textual consistency in general and, above all, translation fluency, moving from the initial inelegant “casts” to natural and specific formulations of the target language.
- Increased customisation: various machine translation systems, especially paid ones, now allow the translation to be customised to the needs of the individual client. In some cases, it is also possible to directly import your own specific glossary. So as to ensure that the terminology used is consistent with other company documents.
Creative Words is an ISO-certified translation agency that has been working with companies in the industrial sector in all parts of the world for years. If you need to translate important documents for your business, contact us obligation-free. We will evaluate your situation and needs together with you and propose a solution in line with your needs, expectations and budget.