Technical translation
Translating 600+ equipment drawings for a sugar plant
Published: 17 July 2026 · Updated: 19 July 2026· Reviewed by: MovaPro team
Situation
A sugar plant was upgrading production and received the full documentation set from its process-equipment supplier — over 600 AutoCAD drawings in English: feed lines, vessels, piping assemblies, installation diagrams. The people who had to work with them were Ukrainian engineers, fitters, and the maintenance team.
Task
Translate the drawings so they’d actually be used on the shop floor: every label in its place, every term the one sugar-production engineers really use — not a dictionary guess.
How we worked
- An industry glossary. From the drawings and accompanying documentation we extracted the terminology: vessels, valves, instrumentation, process media. Every term was verified against technical dictionaries and current industry standards, then approved by the client’s engineers.
- Translation in a CAT tool. The drawing text went through Trados with a shared translation memory: identical notes and designations read identically across all 600+ sheets. Matches and repetitions weren’t billed at the full rate — noticeable savings on standardized assemblies.
- One-to-one layout in AutoCAD. Translated labels returned exactly to their positions: layers, blocks, callouts, and dimension lines untouched. A translated sheet looks like the original — just in Ukrainian.
- Quality control. An editor proofread every package; Xbench verified numbers, designations, and consistency of identical strings. The final pass was visual: nothing overlapping the graphics, every callout legible.
Result
The plant received a working Ukrainian drawing set that fitters and process engineers actually use. The equipment supplier keeps us as reference for future deliveries: the same translation memory now serves new shipments and documentation updates.
Worth knowing
- Food-industry drawings need both technical translation and genuine sector terminology — check that your vendor has worked in your industry.
- Our largest project of this type: 5,000+ drawings into Kazakh for a plant construction.
- When a supplier delivers documentation in stages, translation memory makes every next package faster and cheaper.
Tools used in this project
We work in the industry’s leading professional software — it guarantees consistent terminology, automated quality checks, and honest pricing: you don’t pay for repetitions.
Trados StudioThe industry-standard CAT tool: translation memory and glossaries keep terminology consistent — and repetitions are free.
ApSIC XbenchThe industry-leading QA tool: catches the small inconsistencies a human eye misses.
AutoCADText translated directly inside DWG drawings — including bilingual layouts, at any volume.
Professional linguists with 15–20+ years of experience — always on the latest industry-leading software.All our software →
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Frequently asked questions
Why translate equipment drawings if engineers "can figure them out"?
A drawing is the working document of fitters, process engineers, and inspection authorities. One misread designation or note costs line downtime. Translated drawings remove that barrier for the whole plant team.
In what format do you return translated drawings?
The same one we received: DWG/DXF with all layers, blocks, and dimensions in place — plus print-ready PDFs if needed. The layout is rebuilt so each sheet looks one-to-one like the original.
How is drawing translation priced?
After file analysis: we count the text volume and the matches. Standard notes and title blocks repeat from sheet to sheet — those repetitions are not billed at the full rate, so large packages cost significantly less than they first appear.
Need a translation? Send your documents — quote in 15 minutes
A photo or scan by messenger or email. Discount on 5+ pages.