13/03/2025

For companies with a high volume of translations, language data is worth its weight in gold. For years, translation memories were filled and terminology databases built up – always with the aim of reducing translation costs, ensuring consistency and saving time. However, in many companies what began as a strategic investment has developed into an unmanageable mountain of data. The hoarding of language data is increasingly leading to the opposite of what was originally intended: rising costs, inefficient processes and even a loss of translation quality. So it’s high time for a digital spring clean.

In order to make language data usable at all, companies rely on so-called translation memories, in which source texts and their translations are stored segment by segment, as well as terminology databases in which technical terms for all required languages are assigned to a specific concept. These digital memories grow with every completed translation project and every additional language combination. New technical terms, definitions and naming variants are constantly being added. The integration of legacy data, company acquisitions or the merging of different data sources often leads to rapid growth.

However, very few companies have established processes for regularly checking and maintaining their language data. This becomes particularly problematic if the data sources have different quality levels or if fundamental changes have occurred in corporate communication over time – whether through changes to corporate language, rebranding or simply through the natural evolution of technical language. Among other things, this can lead to translation memories containing several variants of a translation for an identical source sentence. What was once a valuable shortcut has become a digital labyrinth.

The uncontrolled accumulation of language data therefore presents risks for translation quality and efficiency. If several, slightly different translations exist for the same source segment in the translation memory, translators must check each occurrence of the segment and decide which variant is the correct one. This not only consumes valuable time, but also leads to higher costs, as segments that would actually be considered a 100% match have to be re-evaluated and adjusted. Additional uncertainties arise in terminology databases due to duplicates with contradictory information or missing usage information. These inconsistencies propagate through all subsequent translation projects and can have a lasting negative impact on text quality.

It becomes particularly critical if the language data is to serve as the basis for AI applications or machine translation. Using unclean data to train machine translation systems can lead to surprising and undesirable results. A system that has been trained with contradictory translation variants incorporates these inconsistencies and may even reinforce them. The situation is similar when using terminology data as a glossary for machine translation: if the glossary contains too many entries or contradictory information, this can significantly impair the quality of the machine translation. The quality of the training data is also crucial for other AI applications such as chatbots or large language models (LLMs). Outdated or incorrect data not only leads to faulty output, but also causes unnecessary costs due to token-based billing models. The following therefore applies to every use of language data: quality before quantity.

Many companies will therefore need a spring clean to utilise their data profitably. Systematically cleaning up your language data addresses various issues at the same time. The focus here is on formally unclean data, such as segments with incorrect punctuation or formatting in translation memories, as well as translated segments that have been linked to the wrong source segments, often caused by incorrect segmentation of the source text. Equally problematic are duplicates and similar entries, which lead to uncertainties in the translation process and unnecessarily inflate the database. Missing information, such as incomplete entries in the terminology database or missing tags in the translation memory, as well as outdated data on products or functions that no longer exist, must also be identified and cleaned up.

Through the use of automated analysis tools such as oneCleanup, even large volumes of data can be efficiently analysed to assess their clean-up potential. The service combines script-based analysis with linguistic expertise and enables a quick assessment of the actual clean-up requirements. The clear presentation of the analysis results makes it easier to decide which measures should be implemented and with what priority. What is important here is a structured approach that takes into account the company’s specific requirements and keeps the data operational during the clean-up process. Step-by-step implementation makes it possible to tackle the most important problem areas first and achieve immediate improvements.

The effort required for data clean-up pays off several times over. Cleaned-up translation memories lead to faster translation processes and reduced costs, as existing translations can be optimally utilised. Instead of having to check multiple, slightly different translation variants, translators receive a single clear match that they can simply adapt as required.

A consistent, up-to-date terminology database supports standardised communication across all languages and channels. The correct use of specialised terminology not only strengthens a business’s brand identity, but also makes it easier for customers and people within the company to understand complex issues. Precise and standardised terminology is also an important factor for compliance and risk minimisation, especially in regulated industries and for safety-relevant products.

In addition, clean language data forms a solid basis for the integration of new technologies such as machine translation and AI applications, for example in-house chatbots. Another advantage is the improved scalability and flexibility of the translation processes, for example when working with external service providers. This gives companies the agility they need in a global and rapidly changing market environment.

The regular maintenance and clean-up of language data is increasingly becoming a decisive factor for success in a competitive global environment. Digital spring cleaning should not be seen as a one-off task, but as an ongoing process. As with other quality processes in the company, it is important to define clear responsibilities, establish checking routines and regularly monitor data quality.

With oneCleanup, we offer a service that combines automation and linguistic expertise to efficiently analyse and clean up even extensive databases. The result is leaner, higher-quality databases that once again optimally fulfil their original purpose: to save costs, speed up processes and improve quality.

Would you like to put your language data to the test? Our experts will analyse your translation memories and terminology databases and work with you to design a customised data clean-up strategy. We’ll be happy to provide a consultation.