Technical translation

The industrial sector is as vast as it is diverse. It is made up of numerous branches, all concerned with technical translation: the manufacturing industry, BTP and construction, agriculture, the oil industry, mining, chemical, the energy industry, aerospace, defense, automotive, the technology industry, textiles or even the fabrication of medication.

  • Precision: Technical translation is purely utility in the sense that it responds to the need for information. It aims to transmit the objective data of a perfectly written source text.
  • Objectivity: The technical text doesn’t possess rhetorical and argumentative dimension. Its translation must not have any connotative scope.
  • Logic: The technical text emanates directly from reality. It is the same information that the translation aims to transmit, allowing the same actions and carrying out the same operations.
  • Clarity: Translating technical text shouldn’t have any stylistic affect, the communicated information cannot be open to controversy.

Types of clients

  • Industrial companies
  • Distributers
  • Software companies
  • Centres working on standardisation
  • Technical editors

Technical Translation Projects

  • Translation of reference manuels
  • Translation of maintenance brochures
  • Translation of operating instructions
  • Translation of technical specifications
  • Translation of operational records
  • Translation of standardisation documents
  • Translation of certificates
  • Translation of certification procedures

The skills of a technical Translation Agency

Translation agencies entrust your documents to a technical translator that has a profound mastery of specific terminology in the relevant field. They will be able to translate them with indisputable accuracy and precision. In addition, they are aware of the local regulations specific to the sector, in order to adapt the text to the context of the targeted country adequately.

The Profile and Training of the technical translator

As a general rule, the technical translator has a solid technical or scientific background, for example, in mathematics, biology, computing, engineering, etc. This training is supplemented by a degree from a translation school.

Entrusting us with the translation of technical documents

CLARKE ENERGY FRANCE

Clarke Energy, is a branch of the Kohler group, specialising in the design, construction, operation and maintenance of power plants, mainly cogeneration and trigeneration plants.

Since 2009, Clarke Energy used the multilingual service, Atenao, numerous times for the translation of technical documents in the fields of engineering, installation and maintenance of power plants. In 2012, Atenao was entrusted with the translation of the company’s website. This translation of a WordPress website from English to French was carried out, at the time, directly in WordPress backoffice and in a mySQL database.

If the website translation done directly in the backoffice is gradually disappearing in favour of translation that are cheaper, quicker and more secure, it still remains an interesting option when the website’s content is small and respects some basic security rules, such as prior content backup of the source website.

Today, it would be preferred that the translation content is done directly in XLIFF or XML export files, or via translation plugins such as Polylang (our preferred one for WordPress), WPML, Loco or  Weglot.

We would add a SEO optimisation phase including:

  • An analysis of the relevance of keywords in terms of research volume and competitiveness
  • The integration of new competitive keywords
  • Improving image names and optimizing their description (alt texts)
  • Optimising URL translations

TESLA FRANCE, NETHERLANDS and CALIFORNIA

At the end of the year 2014, Tesla Inc. (through Tesla motors France) called the translation agency Atenao for the first time, for the creation of technical translations linked to the design, production and the marketing of their electrical vehicles.

The first project entrusted by the brand was a translation from English to French of presentation documents devoted to the Detroit Auto Show in 2015. The rest will come from California and the Netherlands with the request for technical translations from English to the main European languages.

This partnership between the automotive giant and Atenao has enabled the multilingual service agency to gain a firm foothold in the technical translation market. We include customers such as Stellantis, Valeo, or Dacia among the professional translation specialist’s clientele.

OM DIGITAL SOLUTIONS (ex OLYMPUS)

Founded in Japan in 1919, Olympus asserts itself as a major role in the manufacturing of optical and digital devices in the areas of consumer electronics and health. The company is recognised as a leader in designing endoscopes, microscopes, medical and industrial equipment, cameras and audio recorders. It exports its products throughout the whole world which makes it a major customer for multilingual services.

Since 2013, the Image and Sound division of Olympus has committed to the technical translation agency Atenao, for the Flemish French translation of its technical documents. The professional translation specialist translated around 400,000 words in the subject of photography.

Do you need the service of a website translation agency? Contact us for an analysis of your project today. We will send you a translation quote and a deadline.