Translation Memory – what is it?

A Translation Memory (TM) is a term describing a database with multi-language content. Why is such a database becoming a key enterprise asset, and should you pay attention to it?

There are several answers, dating from the old-school translation practice. Mind you: translation memory is not a recent invention. The stratospheric rise of AI and large language models added a spin to the importance of the old concept and a few more powerful reasons for maintaining and servicing a large translation memory.

Let’s start with the basics and why translation memory was and still is a must-have for any company serious about doing business internationally:

• Consistency A central translation memory ensures consistent content translation across different projects, departments, and languages. It is a repository of previously translated segments, allowing translators to reuse approved translations for specific terms, phrases, or sentences. This helps maintain brand voice, terminology, and style guidelines, resulting in cohesive and consistent content.
• Cost and Time Efficiency A central translation memory can significantly reduce translation costs and turnaround times by reusing existing translations. Translators don’t have to start from scratch with every new project or document, saving time and effort. It also minimizes the need for redundant translations and ensures that previously translated content is leveraged effectively.
• Quality Assurance A central translation memory helps maintain translation quality by storing approved translations and reference materials. It allows translators to access and leverage previously validated translations, glossaries, and preferred terminology, ensuring project accuracy and consistency. Translations can be reviewed and refined over time, improving quality and reducing errors.
• Collaboration and Knowledge Sharing A central translation memory promotes collaboration and knowledge sharing among translators, linguists, and localization teams. It is a central repository where linguists can share and access translations, glossaries, style guides, and other linguistic resources. This facilitates translation consistency, fosters knowledge exchange, and helps maintain translation standards within the enterprise.
• Scalability As an enterprise grows and expands into new markets or languages, a central translation memory can accommodate the increasing volume of translations. It allows for easy management and tracking of translation assets across different projects, teams, and languages. The translation memory can be continually updated, refined, and expanded to meet the evolving translation needs of the enterprise.
• Terminology Management A central translation memory can also be a terminology management tool. It provides a single source of truth for approved terms and phrases, reducing ambiguity and ensuring consistent terminology usage. This helps build and maintain a strong and consistent brand identity across multiple languages and markets.

Such a language database is also significant for companies in regulated industries due to their specific requirements and challenges. Here’s why TM is crucial in such contexts:

• Compliance with Regulatory Standards Regulated industries, such as pharmaceuticals, medical devices, finance, legal, and healthcare, often have strict regulations and legal requirements in different jurisdictions. Accurate and consistent translation of content is crucial to comply with these regulations. A central translation memory ensures consistency in translating terms, phrases, and legal terminology, minimizing the risk of misinterpretation or non-compliance.
• Risk Mitigation In regulated industries, inaccurate or inconsistent translations can have severe consequences, including legal liabilities, financial losses, and damage to reputation. Translation memory is a risk mitigation tool storing approved translations, terminology, and reference materials. It helps ensure accuracy and consistency across translations, reducing the risk of errors, misunderstandings, and compliance breaches.
• Audit Trail and Traceability A central translation memory provides an audit trail and traceability of translations, which is essential in regulated industries. It allows companies to track and document the translation process, including who translated, reviewed, and approved specific content. This traceability helps demonstrate compliance, address regulatory audits, and provide evidence of translation quality and adherence to industry standards.
• Version Control and Change Management Regulated industries often undergo frequent updates, such as changes in regulations, labelling requirements, product information, or legal documentation. A central translation memory enables effective version control and change management by storing and managing different versions of translated content. It ensures that updated translations reflect the most recent regulatory changes, preventing errors or outdated information from being disseminated.
• Efficiency in Translation Updates In regulated industries, companies often need to update translations periodically due to regulatory changes or product updates. A central translation memory enables efficient updates by identifying and reusing previously translated segments, reducing the time, effort, and cost required for translation revisions. It ensures consistency in updated content while maintaining compliance with regulatory requirements.
• Consistent Terminology Regulated industries typically have complex and industry-specific terminology. Consistent translation of technical terms is critical to ensure clarity and accuracy. A central translation memory allows companies to maintain and enforce terminology usage across translations, reducing the risk of misinterpretation or confusion in regulated contexts.
• Confidentiality and Security Regulated industries often deal with sensitive and confidential information, including patient data, financial records, legal documents, and intellectual property. When implemented with appropriate security measures, a central translation memory ensures the confidentiality and protection of translated content, adhering to data protection regulations and industry-specific security standards.

By utilizing a central database, companies in regulated industries can achieve greater translation accuracy, consistency, compliance, and risk mitigation. It facilitates efficient translation processes, ensures adherence to regulatory requirements, and helps maintain a strong reputation within the industry.

In addition to these traditional reasons for regulated and non-regulated industries, the rise of AI and large language models has added new powerful reasons for maintaining and servicing a large translation memory. These include enhanced translation accuracy through AI-powered neural machine translations and the ability to leverage AI models to generate translations for new content or languages.

A central translation memory is an essential asset for enterprise companies that frequently engage in translation and localization activities. It promotes consistency, efficiency, quality assurance, collaboration, and scalability in translation workflows and becomes a springboard for any AI-related initiative involving languages.