Translation Management with Pimcore and DeepL
Master the challenge of providing ever larger and more specific amounts of information for each target market in the respective national language with the help of machine translation - in the best possible way and in the shortest possible time. This blog is intended to help make this complex topic a little more transparent.
How will the world perceive your product?
Today, companies have extensive knowledge about their customers, their needs and their behavior. Customer centricity is now the guiding principle for product development and marketing. However, customer centricity also means more information in order to do justice to different target groups with different levels of knowledge and different behavioral patterns. This task expands with each additional national market and its linguistic and cultural differences and peculiarities.
Localization of products
Localization of content. An example: sockets are available all over the world. However, the socket is already a different product in many neighboring countries, including different product information, certificates and much more. The product is therefore localized with all the relevant information for the respective country. However, the use of a socket itself is identical around the globe. Despite all cultural heterogeneity, the differences in needs are rapidly converging as a result of ongoing internationalization. With one exception: language has a high degree of identification. Over 80% of customers want information in their native language. If you want to be successful internationally, you should fulfill this wish.
Creating the technical requirements for adapting the content to the target markets
The internationalization of the technical basis is the prerequisite for later adaptability of the website or store to the target markets. This means that compatibility for different currencies, tax systems, character sets, language directions, formats for names, data, addresses, etc. must already be taken into account during the design and development stages. Only this “multi-local” approach enables rapid adaptation to a new country. The efficient adaptation of the language is a key point that we would like to address in this blog article.
High translation costs become a brake on development
The internationalization of the technical basis is the prerequisite for later adaptability of the website or store to the target markets. This means that compatibility for different currencies, tax systems, character sets, language directions, formats for names, data, addresses, etc. must already be taken into account during the design and development stages. Only this “multi-local” approach enables rapid adaptation to a new country. The efficient adaptation of the language is a key point that we would like to address in this blog article.
Product diversification expands the product range
Let's return to the example of the socket outlet. In most cases, there is neither a single model nor a single variant. Diverse models for the most diverse architectural styles in the most diverse colors make the number of products and their variants virtually explode. Almost all companies therefore manage their product information and assets (images, videos, PDFs) in a suitable PIM/MDM/DAM system such as Pimcore.
Increasing costs. Longer time to market
However, a larger product scope means a greater wealth of information and a greater wealth of information triggers more translations. Over the years, companies have adapted their translation processes to these growing requirements. Often, translation service providers are used who have “specialized” in their clients. The translation workflow has adapted and works - somehow. However, the constantly growing volume of translations is causing increasing pain in two key areas: costs and time.
Costs
Five to six-figure costs for translation services put pressure on the overall budget. An increasing burden on financial resources - money that is often lacking for other important projects and further developments.
Time
The path to the final translation is a long one, peppered with many stages. Extensive and unwieldy processes slow down the pace of market launches and adaptations.
More speed and lower costs thanks to automatic translation processes
Steadily improving quality in machine translations
The first machine translations over 15 years ago are still a bit of a bumpy ride for many people. Today, hardly anyone questions the fact that translations can be done well, reliably and quickly with the help of AI. The use of machine translation is therefore the key to significantly streamlining processes while reducing costs at the same time.
Translations directly at the source
Provided that a company manages its information in a PIM/MDM/DAM system (the single source of truth), this content should be translated directly in this source. To do this, machine translation is integrated directly into the data objects, such as DeepL. In practice, this works very simply: Select the target language for the text to be translated, then “trigger” the translation process with DeepL. The translation is carried out automatically by the AI. After successful completion, the translated text is assigned to the correct field. And that's it! What sounds so simple is also so easy to use on a daily basis.
Fully automatic or with a defined workflow including control and approval steps
The translation process can be accompanied by freely definable control and release steps. The creation of an alternative text for an image, for example, can be subject to a different workflow than the creation of an important product description. If binding approvals are required for such translations, the process stops at this step until the corresponding approval has been given and the next step is initiated.
Ensuring the correct terminology through glossaries
In other languages, is a foxtail really a foxtail or a saw? Do chips mean electronic components or French fries? This is why terminology management is indispensable. In machine translation, the management of -specific terminology is no longer an obstacle. Modern systems such as DeepL offer glossary management, in which company-, product- or industry-specific terms are stored in the desired translation. For example, the German term “Fuchsschwanz” for a special saw is correctly translated into the respective target language as Säge in all texts.
Translation process with TMS
A translation management system (TMS) manages the translation of global content, including approvals and reuse of content. The system also standardizes parallel translation processes that may take place in different departments. The TMS has proven its worth in the classic translation process, as the benefits (such as uniform translation and cost reduction) outweigh the effort involved.
Machine translation process without TMS
Machine translation is now so precise, fast and inexpensive that the effort and associated high costs for a translation management system are no longer worthwhile in most cases. Not even when large quantities of identical text are translated repeatedly at different locations.
Conclusion
Language handling has never been so easy, fast and inexpensive. The combination of the right systems enables cost-effective internationalization and localization with high-quality translations and a rapidly reduced time to market.
