WAGO is one of the international leaders in electrical connection and automation technology. For every market, the company needs catalogs and data sheets in many languages. With InTO, WAGO now processes these documents 85 percent faster — while translating noticeably less. Here is how.
| Customer | WAGO Kontakttechnik GmbH & Co. KG, Minden |
|---|---|
| Industry | Electrical / connection technology |
| In use | since 2022 |
| Languages | 17 |
| Focus | Catalogs & data sheets |
| Document types | InDesign, data sheets, catalogs |
A lot of content, many languages — and much of it duplicated or not translatable at all
WAGO develops and manufactures connection and automation technology for customers around the world. Thousands of products, each with a data sheet and a catalog entry — and each of these documents in many languages. Localization therefore doesn’t happen once, but continuously and at high volume.
A large share of this content is technical and recurring. Some of it is language-neutral — article numbers, dimensions, connection values, plain numbers that stay the same in every language. Much of the rest repeats almost identically from document to document. Yet both ran through the same translation process as new text — counted as a separate segment, translated again and paid for again.
On top of that came the path itself. The templates lived in InDesign, the layout had to be reworked by hand after every language, and corrections ran across several tools and departments. Every language version turned into its own little project.
One process on one platform — and less that has to be translated
InTO brings the entire workflow onto a single platform. As soon as a document is imported, the system recognizes which content actually needs translation. Plain numbers, codes and article numbers are excluded already at the segmentation stage — they never reach the translators in the first place. That alone reduces the number of segments to be translated by 10 percent.
The rest runs in a structured way: AI agents and a translation memory handle the groundwork and draw on text that has already been translated. Repetitions are recognized instead of translated again and again — so 15 percent fewer duplicate texts arise, and the average full-match rate rises by 12 percent. Translations done once are reused automatically across all languages. Proofreading happens directly in the layout — the department sees the text exactly where it will later appear. InTO then writes the finished texts back into the original document automatically, formatting included. Many manual steps become one continuous workflow.
What doesn’t need translating isn’t translated — and isn’t paid for.
Finished faster, less volume, lower cost
The numbers show where the old process tied up money. WAGO now processes its multilingual documents 85 percent faster. Because language-neutral content drops out of segmentation, 10 percent fewer segments go to the translators. The translation memory catches repetitions — 15 percent fewer duplicate texts translated, and on average 12 percent more full matches. In total, translation project costs fall by 90 percent.
InTO has the clearest effect in four places in day-to-day work.
| Before | With InTO | Impact |
|---|---|---|
| Numbers, codes and article numbers also ran through translation as segments | Language-neutral content is excluded already during segmentation | −10 %segments to translators |
| Recurring, identical texts were translated again and again | The translation memory recognizes repetitions and pre-fills them | −15 %duplicate texts translated |
| A single invisible character — e.g. a different kind of space — made identical text count as new | InTO matches on the actual text content — invisible characters no longer cause missed matches | +12 %avg. full match |
| High cost per language version — everything was translated and paid for | Less volume, more reuse, one automated workflow | −90 %translation project costs |
Behind the percentages lies a simple effect: what used to tie up many hands now runs predictably and with less friction — and much of it no longer has to go through translation at all.
- Catalogs and data sheets are available faster in all 17 languages.
- Only what truly needs translating is translated.
- One platform for everyone involved instead of scattered point solutions.
