Successful manufacturing localization supports your international operations, improves connections with global audiences, and accelerates growth. Yet, it can’t be an afterthought: Manufacturers must understand why, when, and how to invest in professional translation and localization to achieve all these and more.

Let’s start with why. Here are some of the benefits of localization for global operations:

• Localization helps manufacturers reach a broader audience across multiple countries.
• Products and content tailored to local markets help compliance with local laws.
• Localized user and service manuals help customers use and maintain products effectively.
• Localized content improves brand recognition worldwide.
• Content in native languages builds trust, improves user experience, and can significantly boost sales.
• Localized safety and training materials ensure all employees understand crucial information.

Now that we’ve set the stage for how localization can benefit you, let’s take a closer look at how to do localization in the manufacturing industry.

Define the Scope of Your Localization Project

This first step includes determining the languages and dialects required based on the countries you’ve chosen for market expansion. Remember that some countries may mandate documentation in more languages and regional dialects to ensure comprehensive coverage and compliance.

Another element to consider is what content types will require localization and translation services. Beyond user manuals, you must translate a broad range of documents to help users operate and maintain your products:

• Guides, reports, and technical manuals
• Operating instructions, safety manuals, and material safety data sheets
• Textbooks and employee training documents
• Service, maintenance, and policy manuals
• Technical documentation: schematics, assembly instructions, product specifications, wiring diagrams, and maintenance procedures
• Websites
• Marketing materials: brochures, flyers, product sheets, product labeling, packaging, catalogs
• Software: user interfaces, error messages, and other software elements
• Legal and regulatory documents: compliance certifications, warranties, and end-user license agreements
• Customer support materials: FAQs and troubleshooting guides
• Patents and patent applications

Given the workload, you’ll need a full range of services, and you must budget for all of them. Here’s what you should know:

• Internationalization prepares your products and website to support multiple languages and regions without redesign.
• Translation and localization convert text and software from one language to another while maintaining meaning and context.
• Transcreation adapts your marketing content to resonate with local cultures.
• Testing ensures that your localized products work correctly in the target market.

Also, establish clear timelines for each project phase to ensure timely delivery without compromising quality. This involves setting realistic deadlines for translation, review, testing, and final implementation.

Define Your Priorities

Given the extensive scope of most localization projects in the manufacturing industry, we recommend a phased approach. This strategy allows you to prioritize the most critical components, which helps mitigate risks and establish a strong foundation for further localization efforts.

It also allows you to manage costs and resources more effectively while enabling adjustments based on initial market feedback. This way, you set up a localization process that is both comprehensive and responsive to the needs of different regions.

Begin with top-priority documents that also require the highest degree of accuracy—safety instructions, guidelines, compliance certifications and warranties, and user and service manuals. Localizing these documents will help you avoid potential legal problems, enhance customer satisfaction, and reduce support requests.

When it comes to marketing materials, localize high-impact content first: brochures, flyers, product descriptions, ads, and your website’s most visited and impactful pages (usually the homepage, product pages, and contact information).

Once the most critical pieces have been localized and you have established a foothold in the new market, you can gradually move to additional content, like email campaigns, internal training material, remaining schematics and maintenance procedures, etc.

Set up Your Localization Project for Success

A successful localization project needs a solid foundation from the beginning. Here are six essential steps to guide you toward achieving your project’s goals on time and within budget.

1.   Create a Localization Kit
A localization kit helps streamline the process, ensures consistency in translations, and helps maintain brand voice across different languages. This kit should include:

• Industry-specific terminology: key technical terms and phrases that appear in your documentation.
• Previously translated materials, usually in the form of translation memories (though your vendor can ‘align’ past translations to use them in future projects).
• Product specifications: technical details, user requirements, and any relevant standards or regulations
• Visual references: screenshots, videos, diagrams, and other visual aids.

2.   Choose the Right Localization Method: AI vs Human Translation
AI translation is gaining in popularity because its speed and efficiency help you handle large volumes of text, making the initial translation stages quicker and more cost-effective. AI tools are perfect for preliminary translations that linguists will review and refine later.

Professional linguists remain essential for content requiring high accuracy, cultural sensitivity, and industry-specific expertise. Critical documents such as safety manuals, marketing materials, and technical documentation require precision and contextual understanding, which only translators can provide.

3.   Define Your Quality Targets
Not all content needs to be of the same quality. Safety manuals, legal materials, and compliance documentation must be translated precisely. This ensures user safety and compliance with legal standards, which is essential for maintaining your ability to sell in your target market.

In contrast, user support content, FAQs, and general internal communications can tolerate a more flexible quality standard, as minor inaccuracies in these areas are less likely to lead to accidents or legal consequences. However, this doesn’t mean these translations should be left entirely to bilingual employees or AI tools. Instead, they should follow a more relaxed workflow with reduced but still necessary testing and a smaller involvement of subject matter experts.

4.   Give the Translators Access to Your Product
Professional translators can achieve more accurate translation when they have access to your product. However, this may not always be feasible due to logistical or security reasons. In such cases, alternative methods can help bridge the gap and provide translators with the necessary context.

• Provide detailed demos and videos that showcase how the products work in specific environments.
• Facilitate access to subject matter experts who can explain manufacturing processes, specialized terminology, and concepts in the proper context.
• If feasible, provide mockups or prototypes of the product. Hands-on experience, even with a non-functional prototype, can significantly enhance the translator’s understanding and lead to more accurate and relevant translations.

5.   Facilitate Clear Communication with an Internal Project Manager
Designate an internal project manager who will be the primary point of contact between your company and the language service provider. This person must understand your company’s goals, products, and internal processes. This way, they can ensure that all localization efforts align with your strategic objectives.

The internal champion brings consistency and continuity to the project. They become deeply familiar with the specific requirements of each market, allowing them to provide invaluable insights and impact translation quality. Another benefit is that an internal localization project manager can streamline the workflow with their established relationships within the company and significantly enhance the overall efficiency of your localization efforts.

This partnership enables a more dynamic and agile response to any changes or challenges during the project, ensuring that the final product resonates with the target audience while maintaining the technical accuracy required in your industry.

6.   Involve the Language Service Provider at the Start
Your localization vendor can offer crucial insights into design and content decisions impacting localization. They can recommend internationalization best practices at the early stages of product development, such as creating user interfaces that accommodate text expansion and avoiding culturally specific imagery that may not translate effectively.

A language service provider involved early in the process can also better define workflows that align with your development schedule. This integrated planning ensures synchronized efforts between your development and localization teams for smoother transitions between project phases.

And lastly, early engagement also allows the vendor to gain subject matter expertise. A deeper understanding of your product’s features, functionality, and user experience goals will result in high-quality manufacturing translations and a localized product more likely to resonate with the target audience.

Choose the Right Localization Partner

With so many language service providers offering manufacturing translation services, it can become challenging to choose the right vendor. Here are some essential criteria to consider when making your decision:

• Expertise in your specific industry and technical knowledge for handling manufacturing content
• A vast network of skilled translators and localization experts with a deep understanding of cultural differences
• Robust quality assurance processes with multiple levels of review
• Proficiency in the latest translation and localization technologies
• Comprehensive services, from technical translation services to website and software localization to transcreation
• Scalability to match your growth and evolving requirements
• Strong project management capabilities
• Updated data security and confidentiality protocols
• Client references, case studies, and industry reputation

Once you’ve carefully chosen a localization partner, engage closely with them to ensure they deeply understand your product, market needs, and regulatory requirements. Regular communication helps promptly address any issues and keeps the localization process on track.

Your Next Steps with Manufacturing Localization

Selling in international markets requires industry-specific language solutions and a reliable partner for global expansion. This way, you ensure compliance, protect your brand, and position yourself as a leader with marketing messages that resonate with local customers and their unique needs.

Don’t take chances with translation and localization when launching manufacturing products in multiple markets. Even without language missteps, it’s already a complex endeavor, with many variables influencing your success.

With over 30 years of experience, we have been supporting global manufacturing companies with professional translation services and strategic localization. Our approach ensures impeccable, cost-efficient localization that helps you achieve more with less as you grow your business. Contact us today to learn more about our professional manufacturing translation services and how our localization solutions can support a manufacturing company like yours.