Manufacturing Translation
Translate SOPs, work instructions, manuals, safety documents, and quality records with repeated instructions kept consistent.
Why the subject matters
What changes in this kind of work
Production documents combine action steps with tolerances, part numbers, warnings, and quality terms. Reviewers can check identifiers, apply the plant or product glossary, and reuse instructions that were approved in earlier manuals.
A translated production document is read by someone standing at a machine: an operator on the night shift, a maintenance technician, an inspector at a supplier's plant. If a step is missing, two steps swap places or a torque value changes, the result is a faulty part or an unsafe situation, not just an awkward sentence. In this field, accurate steps, values and warnings matter far more than elegant style.
Manufacturing documentation is also highly repetitive. The same instruction appears in dozens of work instructions, and a manual is revised every time the product changes. That is why translation memory and the glossary do most of the work here: a sentence approved for last year's manual can be reused exactly, and the approved term for each part or quality concept is sent to the model with every sentence that contains it.
DeepReference drafts the translation with its own model on servers in the EU, returns the file in its original format and flags segments where numbers differ, a glossary term is missing or text was left untranslated. It does not judge whether a warning is adequate, convert units or approve a document. A qualified reviewer reads, corrects and approves each segment before the document goes to the shop floor.
How it works
A project from upload to delivery
- 1
Bring in what you already have
Import your existing glossary (CSV, XLSX, TMX or TBX) and the translation memory from earlier manuals as TMX. If there is no glossary yet, run terminology extraction on a previous manual and its translation, then approve or dismiss each proposed term.
How to do it, step by step: 2.6 Import terms into a glossary · 4.1 Import a TMX file
- 2
Set up the project
Choose the language pair and a tone. Technical suits specifications and manuals; Simplified can help for short shop-floor instructions, as long as the reviewer checks that no condition was lost. On Business, share the project with the reviewers who will approve it.
How to do it, step by step: 5. Text translation, tones and glossary
- 3
Translate the file
Upload the DOCX, XLSX, PPTX or PDF. Exact matches from translation memory are reused, and approved glossary terms that occur in a sentence are sent to the model with that sentence. The file comes back with its tables, numbering, headers and Excel formulas in place.
How to do it, step by step: 6. Document translation
- 4
Review segment by segment
In the segment editor, source and target sit side by side with memory matches, glossary hits and quality flags for numbers, missing terms and untranslated text. The reviewer corrects and approves each segment; on Translator Pro the document editor shows the result in its real layout.
How to do it, step by step: 7. Translation Editor
- 5
Handle the next revision
When the source manual changes, compare the old and new DOCX. You get a redline and a DOCX with tracked changes, and in “with translation” mode only the segments affected by the revision are translated again. Nothing is charged until you confirm.
How to do it, step by step: 9. Revision comparison
- 6
Deliver and keep
Download the approved file in its original format. On plans with translation memory, the approved segments are stored, so the next work instruction or manual revision starts from them.
How to do it, step by step: 4. Translation memory
Document types
What we translate
- Standard operating procedures (SOPs)The meaning sits in the order of the steps and their conditions; a merged or dropped step changes the procedure, so the reviewer compares step by step.
- Work instructionsShort imperative sentences that repeat across many instructions, so approved sentences in translation memory save time and keep the verbs consistent.
- Operating and maintenance manualsLong documents revised with each product change; revision comparison shows what changed and limits retranslation to the affected segments.
- Product specifications and data sheetsMostly tables of values, units and tolerances, which stay as written; the number check flags any segment where a value differs from the source.
- Safety data sheetsMany markets prescribe the wording of hazard and precautionary statements; put the official phrases in the glossary and have a qualified person check every section.
- Quality manuals and proceduresQuality-management terms must mean the same thing in every document, so one shared glossary for the whole document set matters more than in most fields.
- Nonconformance and 8D reportsOften written quickly on the shop floor with abbreviations and shorthand; the reviewer should confirm what was actually meant before approving.
- Spare parts lists and bills of materialsUsually XLSX with formulas, which are kept; short entries give the model little context, so the glossary carries most of the terminology.
- Supplier documentsThey arrive in mixed formats and quality; a scan without a text layer is refused, so ask the supplier for the original file or run text recognition first.
- Shop-floor presentationsPPTX text boxes have little room, and the length check flags long segments; text inside screenshots and photos is not translated.
How to do it, step by step: 6. Document translation
Quality controls
Checks available during review
Domain terminology
A domain glossary or termbase can be applied to keep preferred vocabulary consistent during review.
How to do it, step by step: 3. Terminology extraction
Format and structure checks
Document structure, numbering, tables, and section conventions remain visible for reviewer checks.
How to do it, step by step: 8. Document Editor
Translation memory
Approved translations can be reused when the same or similar text appears again.
How to do it, step by step: 4. Translation memory
Review records
Reviewer actions, translation settings, and approval timestamps are kept where the workflow supports them.
How to do it, step by step: 7.3 Project tools
Glossary filtering
Only glossary terms found in the current text are sent with the translation request.
How to do it, step by step: 2.15 Use a glossary correctly
Recommended settings
How to set up a job in this field
Domain for terminology extraction
Choose Manufacturing when you extract terms from these documents. The domain is used for extraction only.
Step by step in the user guideGlossary
Add the approved terms for this client and language pair, one translation per term, and select the glossary when you translate.
Step by step in the user guideTerminology examples
How key terms are handled
Tolerance
Values, ± signs and units stay as written in the source; nothing is converted, and the number check flags a segment where a value differs.
Nonconformity
Kept as the quality-management concept, separate from “defect” where your quality system distinguishes them; add the approved rendering to the glossary.
Corrective action / preventive action
Two separate terms with separate glossary entries, so a CAPA record does not blur removing a cause with preventing one.
Tightening torque
The value and unit are kept; the reviewer checks that the target wording for “tighten to” matches the plant's standard phrasing.
Part number
Identifiers should be copied exactly; the number check flags changed digits, and the reviewer checks letters, hyphens and revision suffixes.
Signal words (Danger, Warning, Caution, Notice)
Each level gets one approved equivalent in the glossary, and the reviewer checks that no warning moved to a weaker or stronger level.
Bill of materials (BOM)
Decide once whether the abbreviation stays in English or uses the local form, and record that choice in the glossary.
Lockout/tagout (LOTO)
Established equivalents differ by country and company; the glossary holds the term your safety procedures already use.
How to do it, step by step: 2.4 Add terms · 2.15 Use a glossary correctly
Who uses this
Industries served
Manufacturers, suppliers, QA teams, production sites, and engineering departments.
Standards and references
What reviewers can check
Reviewers can check part numbers, tolerances, measurements, warnings, procedural verbs, and quality-management terms.
Before delivery
What your reviewer checks
- Every value, unit, tolerance and ± sign matches the source, and decimal separators follow the convention agreed with the customer.
- Part numbers, drawing numbers and revision letters are exactly as in the source.
- Steps are in the same order, none is merged, split or dropped, and conditions such as “until”, “before” and “only if” are kept.
- Warnings use the approved signal word at the right level, and no negation was lost.
- Every missing-glossary-term flag has been resolved, not just dismissed.
- The same action verb is used for the same action throughout the document.
- References to figures, tables, sections and item numbers still point to the right place.
- Text in drawings, images and screenshots has been handled separately, since it is not translated.
- In PDF output, tables, callouts and replaced fonts have been checked visually.
How to do it, step by step: 7. Translation Editor
Transparency
What DeepReference does not do
- DeepReference does not convert units or reformat values. Values stay as in the source; if the target market needs different units, the author or reviewer changes them.
- DeepReference does not certify translations or check a document against safety or quality requirements such as ISO 9001, EU product rules or safety data sheet regulations. That responsibility stays with the manufacturer and its qualified reviewers.
- There is no model specialised in manufacturing. The same model translates every field; the domain setting guides terminology extraction only.
- Text inside images, drawings and screenshots is not translated, and a scanned PDF without a text layer is refused. CAD and other drawing formats are not supported.
- DeepReference does not provide translators or reviewers. Your own team or your language service provider reviews and approves the translation.
- There is no connection to PLM, ERP or content management systems. Files move by upload and download, glossaries and memories by CSV, XLSX, TMX or TBX, and the Business plan has a REST API.
Questions
Frequently asked questions
Will it convert millimetres to inches or Celsius to Fahrenheit?
No. Units and values stay as they are in the source. The number check flags a segment where a value in the translation differs from the source, so an accidental change is easier to spot.
Will our part numbers and codes stay unchanged?
The model normally copies them as they are, but that is not something we can promise for every segment. The number check flags changed digits; letters, hyphens and suffixes are checked by the reviewer.
We revise our manuals several times a year. Do we pay for the whole manual each time?
Not necessarily. Revision comparison in “with translation” mode retranslates only the segments the revision affected, and exact translation memory matches are reused. Nothing is charged until you confirm.
Is there a model trained specifically for manufacturing?
No. The same translation model is used for every field. Consistency comes from your glossary and translation memory, which you build from your own approved material. Your documents are never used to train the model.
Can we translate technical drawings?
Only text that exists as selectable text in a PDF, DOCX, PPTX or XLSX file. Text inside images is not translated, complex PDF layouts can need a manual check, and CAD files are not supported.
Where is our documentation processed?
On DeepReference's own servers in the EU. No outside AI company sees the text. Files are encrypted in transit and at rest, and deleting the account removes documents, memories and glossaries; backups expire after 14 days.
Review framework
Open the platform from the dashboard when you are ready to work on files.
View quality documentationBegin projects: Manufacturing Translation
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