The Swissmem team has a wealth of expertise in technical professions. The association’s network includes many experienced specialists who contribute to projects, write texts and more. The challenge for Swissmem was that, although their work and expertise were extensive, it was not documented anywhere central in a scalable manner. This created a risk of knowledge being lost and inconsistent technical terms and phrasing appearing in text creation and translation. However, consistency is essential – particularly for key documents such as examination questions and regulations, curriculum frameworks and educational reform texts. Ultimately, all trainees and examination candidates in Switzerland should encounter exactly the same conditions across all technical professions and in every language.

Swissmem set out to find a professional partner who would do more than simply translate in isolation, without understanding the wider context. The aim was to secure comprehensive workflows including consulting, terminology management, processing of e-learning, interface management, DTP and more.

This is particularly important for the FUTUREMEM project. The initiative involves the revision of the eight technical vocational training programmes within the Swiss technology sector. Swissmem operates its own publishing house and produces media tailored to these new professions. This entails a vast number of updated documents covering teaching, learning and examination materials – in German, French and Italian. But what specific terminology should be used? It quickly became clear that all language assets first needed to be thoroughly checked and stored at a central place. And that this could only be achieved seamlessly with an all-in-one partner who ideally already has experience with educational texts.

And what can we say? It was a perfect fit. We are proud to work with Swissmem as an equal partner, providing advice and support to help them achieve their goals.

In Diction, Swissmem has found a professional partner with experience in the technical language of education, and one that offers integrated processes where everything runs seamlessly. We call this “Plan. Create. Automate.” With this approach, translations are never done in isolation or without planning; terminology is carefully collected, verified and made available automatically. After all, reliable terminology that is uniformly accessible to all writers and translators provides the foundation for high-quality content.

To prepare fully for the teaching, learning and examination resource project, we planned the process in several stages. First, we aligned the reference texts, i.e. existing materials, so we could compare the languages and identify terms that were inconsistent or outdated. The client then specified their preferred options. We also created a style guide with standardised writing rules in all languages for Swissmem. Finally, through effective collaboration, we produced a comprehensive glossary with up-to-date technical vocabulary for each professional group, precisely tailored to the new educational materials.

But how can authors easily use these language assets? The solution, straight from the “Automate” section, was Lexeri, our tool for corporate language management. It gives all writers instant access to information on technical vocabulary, permitted and prohibited terms from the tech world, and more. This ensures everyone contributing to the new educational resources stays aligned on terminology, saving time and effort – because Lexeri even provides colour-coded hints while you are writing.

Thanks to the collaborative approach, nothing stands in the way of the “Create” phase. We are already translating manuscripts for the new teaching, learning and examination materials. From the bare bones to fine-tuning – technical texts are evolving just as the professions themselves are.