Operating and maintenance manuals
Machinery, industrial equipment, vehicles and devices — user, installation, service and parts manuals.
Manuals · SOPs · Specifications
Technical manual translation people can actually work from.
Operating, installation and maintenance manuals, SOPs and specifications — translated with one terminology from the first page to the last, and laid out so step 4 still follows step 3.
Straight answer
STIB translates technical manuals for equipment, machinery, vehicles, medical devices and software — operating, installation and maintenance manuals, standard operating procedures, specifications and safety instructions — between English and Brazilian Portuguese and across a network of more than 40 languages. Each manual is translated against an agreed glossary with translation memory, so every part name, warning and instruction reads the same on every page and in every later revision, and is reviewed by a second linguist before delivery in the working format you sent.
What we translate
Documents someone will act on
SOPs and work instructions
Procedures written to be followed exactly, in order, by operators who will never see the source text.
Specifications and safety documentation
Technical specifications, datasheets, warnings and safety instructions, where one word can change the level of risk.
How we work
Consistent, reviewed, ready to use
One glossary, agreed first
Part names, functions and signal words (danger, warning, caution) are fixed in a glossary before translation starts, and checked with your engineers where needed.
Translation memory across revisions
When the manual changes, only new or altered text is translated. Unchanged sections keep the wording already approved, so terminology does not drift from one release to the next.
Structure and layout preserved
Numbered steps, tables, callouts and diagram labels keep their order and position. Portuguese runs longer than English, so tables and callouts are checked for fit, not only for accuracy.
Independent review
A second linguist reviews every manual against the source before delivery, whatever its size.
Selling in Brazil
When the manual has to be in Portuguese
Equipment and products sold in Brazil generally need their documentation in Portuguese. Brazil's machinery safety standard, NR-12, requires machine manuals to be written in Brazilian Portuguese, and the Consumer Defense Code requires product information for consumers to be given in Portuguese. STIB translates manuals for manufacturers and distributors entering the Brazilian market, and Brazilian manuals into English and other languages for export. Your compliance team decides which rules apply to your product; we make sure the Portuguese version says exactly what the original says.
Straight answers
Technical manual translation: questions we are asked
What does technical manual translation include?
Translation of the full manual — text, tables, diagram labels, warnings and safety instructions — against an agreed glossary, followed by an independent review by a second linguist and delivery in the working format you sent. Revisions of the same manual reuse the approved wording through translation memory.
Which file formats can you work with?
Word, Excel, PowerPoint and PDF, and other common formats on request. Editable source files give the best result because layout can be kept; scanned PDFs may need OCR processing first.
Do manuals for machines sold in Brazil need to be in Portuguese?
Generally yes. Brazil's machinery safety standard NR-12 requires machine manuals in Brazilian Portuguese, and the Consumer Defense Code requires consumer product information in Portuguese. Your compliance team confirms what applies to your product; STIB provides the translation.
How do you keep terminology consistent across a long manual?
With a glossary agreed before translation, translation memory that makes repeated passages identical, and a review that checks every part name and signal word against that glossary.
How long does a technical manual translation take?
It depends on length, format and how much text repeats. A quote states the delivery date; larger manuals can be delivered in parts so engineering or production can start with the sections they need first.
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The file, the languages and the date you need it. You get a quote with the delivery date from the team that will translate it.