Technical translation services for industry and engineering

The Machinery Directive sets strict language requirements: the operating manual must be available in the official language of every member state where the machine is placed on the market. In the UK post-Brexit, UKCA marking now applies for the GB market, while CE marking remains valid for products placed on the EU market. We work with technical translators who have mechanical, electrical or process engineering backgrounds. Translation memory with client glossary guarantees terminology consistency across product families.

Technical translation requires domain expertise. Our technical specialist translators usually hold an engineering degree, with sub-specialisations in mechanical, electrical, chemistry, software engineering or materials science. Per project we match the right sub-discipline — an SDS translator is not the same as a mechanical-specification translator.

For technical translations, terminological consistency is critical — especially across product families, software versions and years of documentation iteration. We use Phrase TMS, memoQ or Trados Studio with a client-specific termbase. At project start, you contribute to a glossary that is enforced across all language versions.

Patent translation requires a specific combination of legal precision and technical accuracy. Our patent translators have both a legal profile (IP-law background, claim vocabulary) and a technical profile. For PCT applications and EPO validations, we deliver in all required languages with terminology coherence across the entire patent family.

For technical texts, automatic machine translation alone is not sufficient — terminological precision, safety-critical instructions and regulatory context require human specialist editing. We use AI as a productivity aid for concept translation on large dossiers (manual revisions, product catalogues), followed by full post-editing by a technical specialist translator.

Our technical translation rates follow the market standard. Indicatively: industrial and engineering documentation £0.10–£0.22 per word depending on language combination and complexity. For returning clients we use translation memory which delivers 20–40% savings on repeating segments.

We respond within 1 hour on working days. For product launches, CE/UKCA compliance deadlines or recall communications, we work with multiple translators in parallel with a lead reviser for terminology consistency. We do not promise a fixed 24-hour delivery in advance; we communicate transparently about what is feasible.