Technical translation for manuals, datasheets, package inserts

Many similar products – many similar user manuals and datasheets

Particularly in the field of automation technology, manufacturers often have an extensive product portfolio of many similar products. The provision of product-specific operating instructions, user manuals, datasheets, package inserts, etc. can present major problems already when managing the original instructions in one language. Therefore, CMS systems are increasingly being used for document creation and management.

User manuals and datasheets

Pay translations only once!

Identical texts are present in many versions and variants of operating instructions, datasheets etc. In technical jargon they are referred to as “internal repetitions” or “100% matches”. With PRODOC, you pay nothing for these texts, while other providers often charge 5-30% of the normal word price for their repeated translation.

PRODOC is therefore usually the more cost-effective provider for the translation of many documents, despite often higher word prices – and this with certified quality.

Example 1:

Double price per word for new translations at PRODOC
No calculation of “100% matches” at PRODOC
10% of the normal word price for “100% matches” in the comparison offer

-> From about 20-30 similar documents PRODOC is cheaper

Example 2

A 50% higher price per word for new translations at PRODOC
No calculation of “100% matches” at PRODOC
Usual cost of 30% for “100% matches” in the comparison offer

-> From about 5-10 similar documents PRODOC is cheaper

For an example of the cost calculation for the translation of different versions of user manuals, datasheets etc., see CAT tools.

Minimize handling costs

Not all changes are detected

As changed/added texts cannot always be identified easily with change tracking, often not all changes are captured and passed on for translation. This leads to inconsistencies between the original version and the translated manual.

Translation without context

Since only snippets of text are translated, translators have no context. Without a terminology database available they will often use different translations for the same term in the source text.

Copy & Paste is time-consuming and error-prone

The texts to be translated are copied into a translation file using copy&paste, and this process is reversed after the translation is finished. In any case, this is time-consuming and error-prone. With no command of target languages such as Chinese, this procedure equals flying blind. You are fortunate when all new translated texts end up in the right place in the manual.

Preparation of operating instructions and manuals for the translation workflow

With the PRODOC Fair Price Policy you save money and increase consistency

Since we do not charge 100% matches, you can always give us the complete document for translation. There are some advantages to this:

Cost efficiency

You only pay for the words that actually are translated

Consistency

A coherent terminology is used and translators have the exact context, i.e. they do not have to guess the context of the sentences to be translated.

Error prevention and less internal work

No manual copy&paste: this avoids errors and significantly reduces internal administrative work.

Copy&Paste is error-prone and expensive

With PRODOC, we can always provide complete documents for translation, even if very little has changed. We do not need to highlight changes in the source text. That saves us a lot of time.

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You can further minimize the total costs of the finished translated manual. For this purpose, you should prepare user manuals, datasheets, instruction leaflets, etc. in the source language in such a way that the effort for the layout of the translated documents is minimized.

As the same document is translated into more languages, this optimization of the source document becomes more important.

For information on how to optimize your documents, see the Know-How menu: