Why terminology and translation memory are assets rather than tooling, and how they change cost and consistency over a multi-year documentation programme.
- What TM and termbase actually are
- Why it compounds
- What breaks it
What TM and termbase actually are
A translation memory stores previously translated segments so that identical or near-identical text is reused rather than retranslated. A termbase stores approved terms — the decisions about what a given concept is called in each language.
The distinction matters. Memory saves work on repeated text. The termbase enforces consistency on text that is new, which is where quality problems normally originate.
Why it compounds
Every project adds decisions to the asset. The second project inherits them, the third inherits more. Over a multi-year documentation programme this changes the economics: revisions become cheaper because much of the content is already decided, and consistency improves because fewer choices are made from scratch.
The inverse also compounds. Without a maintained asset, each project re-decides terminology, and a document set slowly diverges from itself — most visibly across revisions, which is exactly where readers notice.
What breaks it
Switching vendors without taking the asset with you. Letting each vendor keep their own. Never reviewing the termbase, so early wrong decisions propagate indefinitely.
Treat the termbase as your asset that a vendor maintains, not as vendor tooling. Ask at contracting how it is delivered to you and in what format.