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Terminology management & effective terminology work

When we talk about terminology, we essentially mean the company's specialized vocabulary.

Terminology work – the path to good terminology management in your company

A company in the mechanical engineering or medical technology sector exports products, writes its own documentation, conducts product marketing, and maintains customer support. Over time, it becomes clear that misunderstandings repeatedly arise in communication.

Efficient terminology management within a company prevents this problem. But what exactly does terminology management entail? By whom, and above all, where should company-specific terminology be documented? The following article will show you how to implement comprehensive terminology management in your company and ensure smooth communication.

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Terminology - the company's technical vocabulary

When we talk about terminology, we essentially mean the company’s specialized vocabulary. If this vocabulary is neither standardized nor overseen by a designated individual, chaos often ensues.

  • The designer uses the terminology he acquired during his training and work.
  • The workshop has its own jargon. Many terms are only used there.
  • The spare parts department also needs to name the parts and tools somehow; the terms from design have names that are not always helpful.
  • The marketing text uses appealing terms primarily intended to whet the appetite for the product and highlight its advantages. Technical terminology is, of course, also an important factor.
  • The authors of the technical writing department need a nomenclature to check the spelling of terms in order to process them correctly.
  • The staff would like a dictionary, ideally online, that contains all terms with their definitions in several languages, with a clear navigation menu and the option to export and print entries. Reference works like Duden, Wikipedia, or Wiktionary often contain very little information on their own, sometimes very specialized, field.
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What happens when terminology management is neglected?

Without proper terminology management, companies risk inconsistent naming across departments, making communication unclear—especially critical in fields like medical products where precision is vital. The issue becomes more complex in multilingual environments: with many languages and multiple term variations, the number of possible names can quickly multiply, leading to confusion.

To address this, companies must standardize how they communicate:

  • within a single language (e.g., German),
  • across different languages (e.g., English),
  • and between languages (e.g., German ↔ English).

Although terminology management varies by company, a structured, consistent approach is essential to ensure clear and effective communication.

01

The first step towards effective terminology: An inventory analysis of current terminology management.

If a company wants to improve its terminology, the first step is a needs assessment. This involves evaluating existing terminology practices, defining rules, and identifying responsibilities—such as who coordinates the work, approves terms, manages foreign-language terminology, and ensures consistency across departments and languages.

Special attention should be given to assigning clear ownership and making the terminology contact person visible within the organization. If managing multilingual terminology and cross-department coordination is difficult, external support may be necessary—this is common, as many companies outsource related tasks like translation or technical writing.

An effective terminologist typically needs a mix of skills, including technical knowledge, language expertise, communication and coordination abilities, and assertiveness—qualities not always available in-house.

02

The terminology officer and the terminology guide

To establish effective terminology management, a company should appoint a dedicated terminology officer. One of their first tasks is to develop a terminology guide, similar to a style guide used in technical writing.

This guide sets the rules for consistent terminology use, including:

  • Basic explanations and definitions of key terms
  • General and company-specific spelling conventions
  • Standardization of technical vocabulary (e.g., choosing between terms like “device” or “facility”)
  • Naming conventions for products or systems
  • Clear processes for creating and defining new terms

Overall, the terminology guide ensures consistency and clarity across the organization.

03

Terminology in the company:
Definitions of processes for terminology

Once a terminology guide is in place, it provides a strong foundation—but terminology work must still be handled separately for each language, since rules (like spelling) don’t transfer across languages.

The next step is to define clear internal processes, such as:

  • How new terms are created when new products or parts are developed
  • How departments handle term changes due to updates, obsolescence, or functional changes

To manage this effectively, companies should create a dedicated terminology team or unit. This group acts as a central contact point and typically includes terminologists, designers, technical writers, spare parts staff, marketing, and possibly translators or international members.

This team is responsible for:

  • Coordinating communication across departments and languages
  • Making decisions on new or updated terms
  • Structuring and maintaining the terminology database (definitions, attributes, naming formats, grammar, etc.)
  • Defining how users interact with the system (search functions, external tools, saved searches, etc.)

By meeting regularly, this task force ensures consistent, up-to-date terminology across the organization.

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Management of the terminology database - concept or naming orientation?

There are two main approaches to terminology databases:

1. Concept-oriented approach
This starts with the concept (the object or idea). It includes the term along with additional information such as definitions, images, subject areas, usage notes, and equivalents in other languages. This approach is ideal for technical fields (e.g., engineering or medical technology) and supports multilingual consistency.

2. Name-oriented approach
This starts with the term itself and focuses on identifying different meanings (ambiguities). It is language-specific and not suitable for multilingual use, since meanings don’t always transfer across languages.

For example, words like “mother,” “mouse,” “glasses,” or “bank” can have multiple meanings depending on context—highlighting the limits of a name-oriented approach and the importance of clarity in terminology management.

01

Communication of approved terminology within the company

After terminology has been approved, it must be consistently implemented across the entire company. Clear internal communication is essential—employees need to know that a terminology office exists and how to contact it, for example through an intranet page listing resources and contact details.

A terminology expert group also plays a key role: its members share updates from their departments and bring standardized terminology back to their teams. These updates can be spread through newsletters, presentations, or regular meetings, ensuring that employees stay informed and actively use the approved terminology throughout the organization.

02

Tools for companies in the mechanical and plant engineering or medical technology sectors.

To make terminology accessible across the company, it’s recommended to use an intranet dictionary where employees can easily check approved terms and avoid inconsistent wording or synonyms.

If the company already uses a CAT tool (translation software), this dictionary can often be integrated, since most tools include customizable terminology features.

For more advanced setups, terminology systems can be connected with other tools (e.g., spare parts management systems), allowing them to automatically retrieve and update approved terminology. This requires proper IT integration and structured data management.

The overall goal is terminology harmonization—ensuring consistent, clear communication across the organization. Achieving this depends on strong communication, company-wide adoption (from management to operational staff), and well-followed processes.

Finally, the level of implementation varies based on company size, needs, budget, and available expertise. If internal resources are limited, external service providers can support terminology management effectively.

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Terminology management is the structured process of defining, standardizing and maintaining a company’s specialized vocabulary to ensure clear and consistent communication across all departments and languages. 

It prevents misunderstandings, improves communication efficiency, ensures consistency across documents and languages, and reduces risks especially in technical or regulated industries. 

Without structured terminology management, companies may face inconsistent naming, confusion between departments, translation errors and increased costs due to rework and inefficiencies. 

Typically, a dedicated terminology officer or team is responsible for defining rules, approving terms, managing terminology databases and coordinating across departments and languages. 

Standardized terminology improves consistency and allows translators to work more efficiently, reducing time, avoiding duplicate work and enabling better use of translation memory systems. 

Companies often use terminology databases or intranet dictionaries, which can be integrated with translation tools (CAT tools) to ensure consistent terminology across all content and languages.

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