What is a Translation Management System (TMS)?
A TMS or Translation Management System is a collaborative environment designed to provide a complete system for hosting and facilitating complex translation projects. All stakeholders (clients, suppliers, vendors, partners, etc.) are able to communicate more effectively thanks to the central management of documents, projects, workflows, and resources.
Translation Management Systems are designed to assist with and support complex translation tasks. They are highly beneficial in multi-person team environments where people are working in several different countries and/or locations. A TMS provides several features including integrated machine translation and centralized management of these items:
Terminology Databases
Translation Memories
Documents
Costs
Projects
Workflows
Translation Memory Systems maintain terminology databases and translation memories in real-time to provide an accurate reference for translators, proofreaders, etc. This also increases consistency across translations and when branding across regions/languages, eliminating the need for manual, often confusing and time-consuming exchanges of these resources among individual team members.
A Translation Management System typically contains an integrated CAT Tool, which eliminates the need to use other tools for translation and offers integrated reporting features. Users are able to access project information in real-time and work via a web browser without needing software or having to perform administrative tasks.
Benefits
With a TMS, documents may be viewed and worked on via a web browser without any additional software. The entire workflow from order submission to delivery of completed work can be automated.
All resources are updated and managed in real-time to ensure the utmost consistency and accuracy across documents, projects, regions, and languages. A few other benefits include:
Lower Project Costs
Faster Time-To-Market
Increased Visibility & Control
Easier Manager Delegation
Streamlined Project Workflow
Improved Collaboration
Easy Access to Information
Increased Efficiency