Technical Translation
Technical Document
Translation Services
Translation of engineering specifications, manufacturing procedures, safety and compliance files, and product manuals by linguists with technical backgrounds, with units and terminology confirmed before work begins rather than assumed.
What is technical document translation, and how does it differ from general translation?
Technical document translation covers documents a reader will act on: engineering specifications, standard operating procedures, safety data sheets, inspection criteria, and product manuals. It differs from general translation because accuracy is functional rather than descriptive, so a wrong word produces a wrong action. Kaplan assigns linguists with engineering and manufacturing backgrounds, confirms unit systems and notation before translating rather than converting silently, locks part and component terminology in a glossary across the document set, keeps instructions in the imperative, and covers 200+ languages.
Technical Translation
Engineering Specifications & Drawings
Translation of specifications, tolerance tables, bills of material, and the annotation on drawings, with units and notation handled explicitly rather than copied. A tolerance converted silently is a defect, so unit systems are confirmed with you before the set is translated.
Technical Translation
Manufacturing & Quality Documentation
Translation of standard operating procedures, work instructions, inspection criteria, and validation records for plants and suppliers operating across languages. Procedural text is translated as instruction, in the imperative, because a worker following a step needs a command and not a description.
Technical Translation
Safety, Compliance & Regulatory Files
Translation of safety data sheets, hazard labelling, compliance declarations, and audit documentation to the terminology the destination regime uses. Hazard phrasing is prescribed rather than free text in most jurisdictions, so it is matched to the governing standard instead of paraphrased.
Technical Translation
Product Manuals & Field Documentation
Translation of installation guides, operating manuals, maintenance procedures, and troubleshooting references for the technician who will actually hold them. Cross-references, figure numbers, and part numbers are held stable so the translated manual still matches the equipment in front of the reader.
Why Kaplan
Built for Functional Accuracy
Subject-Matter Translators
Technical documents are assigned to linguists with engineering or manufacturing backgrounds, because a generalist produces text that reads fluently while being technically ambiguous, and ambiguity in a procedure is a safety problem.
Units and Notation Confirmed, Not Converted
Unit systems, decimal conventions, and tolerance notation are confirmed with you before translation. Silent conversion is one of the most common and most expensive failures in technical translation.
Terminology Locked Across a Document Set
Part names, component terms, and recurring procedural language are fixed in a glossary so a manual, its SOPs, and its inspection criteria do not use three different words for one part.
Procedural Voice Preserved
Instructions stay instructions. Steps are rendered in the imperative so a technician reads a command, which is what a procedure is for, rather than a description of what someone might do.
Figure and Reference Integrity
Figure numbers, cross-references, and part numbers are held stable through translation so the document still maps to the equipment and to the rest of the set.
200+ Languages
Technical translation in over 200 languages and dialects, covering the supplier and plant languages that manufacturing and engineering work actually runs in.
Client Feedback
What Our Clients Say
"They came back with a question about our tolerance notation before quoting. The previous vendor had just converted everything and we found out on the floor."
Priya N.
Quality Systems Manager
"One glossary across the manual, the SOPs and the inspection sheets. Our suppliers stopped asking which part we meant."
Werner K.
Manufacturing Engineering Lead
FAQs
Common Questions
What counts as technical document translation?
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Documents whose accuracy is functional rather than descriptive: specifications, standard operating procedures, safety data sheets, inspection criteria, manuals, and validation records. The test is whether a reader will act on the document. If a wrong word produces a wrong action, it belongs on the technical track and is assigned to a linguist with the relevant engineering background.
Do you convert units, or keep the original?
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We confirm with you before translating and never convert silently. Some destinations require conversion, others require the source units preserved with a conversion noted, and a tolerance quietly restated in different units is a defect waiting to happen. Decimal separators and notation conventions are settled the same way.
How do you keep terminology consistent across a large set?
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With a glossary agreed before translation begins. Part names, component terms, and recurring procedural phrasing are fixed, so a manual, its work instructions, and its inspection criteria use one word for one part. On long programs the glossary carries forward, which is what keeps a revision consistent with the release it supersedes.
Can you translate safety data sheets and hazard labelling?
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Yes. Hazard phrasing is prescribed text in most jurisdictions rather than something to paraphrase, so it is matched to the governing standard for the destination rather than translated freshly. Tell us the destination regime and we will render the mandated phrasing rather than an accurate-sounding approximation of it.
What if the specification is going into a patent filing?
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Then it belongs on the patent track. Specifications, prior art, and claim language destined for a USPTO or PCT filing are handled by our certified patent translation service, where claim scope rather than readability governs the wording. Tell us the filing and we route it there.
Do you use machine translation for technical documents?
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No. Technical translation is done by human subject-matter linguists and reviewed. Machine output fails specifically on negation, conditional steps, and units, which are the three things a procedure depends on, and it cannot carry a certificate of accuracy where one is required.
Can you work from drawings and non-editable formats?
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Yes. Annotation on drawings, scanned documents, and non-editable files are handled, with the layout rebuilt so the translated document remains usable at the workstation. Tell us the format when you send the files and we will confirm what the delivered set will look like before work begins.
Do you also provide interpreters for plant visits and audits?
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Yes, and that is a separate service. Documents are translation, a spoken audit or plant visit is interpreting. See on-site interpreting. An interpreter who has read the translated procedures arrives already familiar with the terminology, which matters on a factory floor.
How do I request a technical translation quote?
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Send the documents, the target languages, and the destination through our online form or by phone at (833) 547-7770. We confirm unit handling, glossary scope, format, and turnaround, and provide a fixed quote before work begins.
Related Technical and Corporate Language Services
Technical documents rarely travel alone. Filings, contracts, and the spoken side of an audit or plant visit each have their own track, and sending a document to the right one is what keeps its certification valid.
Request a Technical Translation Quote
Send your documents and tell us the destination. We confirm unit handling, glossary scope, and turnaround before work begins.