Hasselt is the capital of a Limburg province that hosts two of the most demanding players in regulatory chemical documentation: Umicore, world leader in high-technology materials for batteries and catalysts, and Nyrstar, producer of zinc and non-ferrous metals. The technical translation in Hasselt must master the REACH SDS for CMR substances, the international patents on battery materials and the foundry ATEX dossiers, while covering the IT needs of Cegeka and the research needs of Flanders Make.
Hasselt and Limburg: advanced materials, metallurgy and industry 4.0
Umicore, whose head office is in Brussels but whose operations for precious metal recycling and battery material production are very present in Flanders and Wallonia, constitutes one of the most complex players to support in technical translation. The company produces cathode materials for Li-ion batteries (NMC - Nickel Manganese Cobalt), catalysts for the automotive and pharmaceutical industry, and recycles precious metals from secondary sources (e-waste, used catalysts, batteries). This triptych involves substances subject to the REACH regulation with CMR classifications (carcinogenic, mutagenic, reprotoxic): cobalt (CMR cat. 1B), nickel compounds (CMR), lithium metal, lead and palladium compounds.
Nyrstar, operating a zinc smelter in Balen (province of Antwerp) and present administratively in the Limburg region, produces zinc, lead and metallic by-products (sulphuric acid, zinc sulphate). The smelting installations involve ATEX zones (explosive metal dusts) and generate a dense safety documentation: work procedures in ATEX zone, analyses of explosion risks (ATEX zoning), SDS for sulphuric acid, zinc powder and lead alloys. These documents must be available in Dutch for the Belgian staff and in English for the international partners of the Trafigura group.
Cegeka, a reference Limburg IT player specialised in cloud, cybersecurity and ERP integration (SAP, Microsoft Dynamics 365), produces technical documentation of a different nature: user manuals for SaaS solutions, functional specifications of integrations, system administration guides and API documentation. This documentation must be translated into Dutch, French and English to cover the three Belgian regions and the international clients of Cegeka.
Flanders Make, strategic research centre for the Flemish manufacturing industry, with a main site in Lommel, near Hasselt, generates scientific and technical publications in English as well as industrial project deliverables in Dutch and French. Its research fields - collaborative robotics, metal 3D printing, manufacturing 4.0, autonomous vehicles - require a cutting-edge technical terminology, often undergoing standardisation.
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Umicore REACH SDS: CMR substances and multilingual obligation
The REACH (EC 1907/2006) regulation, article 31, requires that the safety data sheets be drafted in the official language of the country of commercialisation. For a player like Umicore which distributes its materials in all EU Member States, this means potentially 23 official languages, i.e. as many adapted SDS. In practice, the 18 most common EU languages cover the bulk of the markets concerned.
For CMR substances cat. 1A and 1B - among which cobalt and its compounds, very present in Umicore's NMC cathode materials - section 8 of the SDS (Exposure controls / Personal protection) and section 11 (Toxicological information) are particularly critical. The OELVs (Occupational Exposure Limit Values) vary from one country to another and must be indicated with the correct national values in each language version. The ECHA publishes harmonised OEL recommendations (Occupational Exposure Limits), but their national transposition differs depending on the Member States.
The classification of substances according to the CLP (EC 1272/2008) regulation must also be reflected correctly in each language version of the SDS: hazard statements (H), precautionary statements (P) and hazard pictograms. These statements are codified and standardised by the ECHA; their translation follows the official lists published in the EU Official Journal in each language, without free adaptation.
Umicore battery material patents: PCT, EP and Asian markets
Umicore holds a considerable patent portfolio on electrode materials for Li-ion batteries, in particular on NMC cathodes (Nickel Manganese Cobalt Oxide) and the recycling processes for end-of-life batteries. These patents are filed via the PCT (Patent Cooperation Treaty) system, then validated in national phases in Europe (EPO), in the United States (USPTO), in China (CNIPA), in Japan (JPO) and in South Korea (KIPO).
The translation of the claims (claims) and of the description is the most delicate step of the international patenting process. A translation error in a claim can modify the scope of protection of the patent and expose the company to uncovered counterfeiting. The patent claims on battery materials involve a very precise materials chemistry terminology: stoichiometry, crystal structures (spinel, Ni layer, M2 phase), lithium intercalation/deintercalation cycles. This terminology must be mastered in all the target languages of the patent portfolio.
Nyrstar ATEX documentation: zinc foundry and process safety
Zinc foundries like those of Nyrstar present explosion risks linked to metal dusts (zinc powder) in accordance with the ATEX 2014/34/EU directive (equipment) and the 99/92/EC directive (workplaces). The explosion protection document (EPD) - mandatory under article 8 of the directive 99/92/EC - must be available in the language of the workers.
The work procedures in ATEX zone (hot work permit, dust deposit cleaning procedures, maintenance procedures for category 2D ATEX equipment) must be drafted in clear and accessible language for the field operators. The translation of these procedures, from Dutch into French or English, must retain this accessibility without sacrificing technical and regulatory precision. The use of standardised warning levels (DANGER / WARNING / CAUTION according to the ISO 3864 standard) must be consistent in all language versions.
Cegeka SaaS and ERP manuals: multilingual IT documentation
The documentation of the SAP and Microsoft Dynamics 365solutions integrated by Cegeka combines several translation challenges: the proprietary SAP/Microsoft terminology (often available in the publisher's official glossaries in 30+ languages), the business terminology specific to the client (purchasing, sales, production processes according to the sector), and the user interface elements (button labels, error messages, tooltips) subject to strict space constraints.
For the APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) and the developer documentation, English remains the reference language, but a functional documentation in French and Dutch is necessary for the business users. The functional integration specifications, the administration guides and the operation procedures of the cloud platforms must respect the official terminology of the cloud providers (Microsoft Azure, AWS) in each language.
The ISO 17100 standard (translation services) provides the quality reference framework for this type of project: translation process with revision by a second translator, qualification of the translators, management of the terminological resources. Cegeka, whose clientele includes players from regulated sectors (healthcare, finance, public sector), requires of its translation partners a level of quality and of traceability compatible with their own ISO 27001certifications (information security).
Timeframes and rates for technical translation in Hasselt
| Type of technical document | Indicative rate | Timeframe |
|---|---|---|
| REACH CMR SDS (cobalt / lithium, per language) | € 220-350 / SDS | 1-2 working days |
| Battery material patent (per page) | € 55-80 / page | 3-5 working days |
| Multilingual SaaS / ERP manual (NL/FR/EN) | € 0.11 / word | 3-5 working days |
| Flanders Make robotics documentation | € 0.13 / word | 2-4 working days |
| IATF 16949 automotive supply chain report | € 0.13 / word | 2-4 working days |
Limburg automotive supply chain: IATF 16949 after Ford Genk
The closure of the Ford Genk plant in 2014 deeply restructured the Limburg automotive supply chain, but many equipment manufacturers survived and repositioned themselves on new prime contractors. These companies, certified IATF 16949, produce PPAPs (Production Part Approval Process), FMECAs (Failure Mode, Effects and Criticality Analysis), control plans and work instructions that must be translated into English for their international OEM customers (Volvo Cars, BMW, Audi, Toyota).
The Greenville eco-industrial park, which succeeded the Ford site in Genk, hosts new industrial activities, some of which generate technical documentation in the sectors of logistics, eco-construction and renewable energy. The site rehabilitation documentation (soil decontamination, environmental reports) required technical translations into Dutch, French and English for the authorities and the investors.
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FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Must Umicore provide the SDS in 18 EU languages for its European clients - who finances the translation?
According to article 31 of the REACH regulation, it is the supplier of the substance or the mixture who has the obligation to provide the SDSin the official language of the country of commercialisation. This obligation therefore falls on Umicore as manufacturer or importer, and the translation is at its charge. The cost of translating the SDS is a cost of regulatory compliance, integrated into the commercialisation costs of the product. In practice, large groups like Umicore have framework contracts with translation providers that guarantee them negotiated tariffs, shared translation memories and rapid update timeframes during the revisions of the SDS. We offer this type of framework agreement for the management of multilingual SDS portfolios.
Must a Umicore patent on Li-ion batteries be translated for the Chinese market by a CNIPA-certified translator?
The CNIPA (China National Intellectual Property Administration)does not impose specific certification on patent translators. On the other hand, the national phase of a PCT patent in China (CN phase) requires that the translation into Chinese (simplified Mandarin) comply with the formal requirements of the CNIPA and be filed by a patent attorney approved in China. The quality of the translation of the claims is critical: an ambiguous wording in Chinese can reduce the scope of protection or make the patent invalid. Our patent translators for the Chinese market are chemists or materials engineers who are native Chinese speakers, with a specialisation in patent law and in battery electrochemistry.
How does one manage the annual update of the REACH SDS in 18 languages for a client like Nyrstar?
The management of SDS updates in a multilingual portfolio relies on an approach via differential translation: only the sections modified compared to the previous version are retranslated, which significantly reduces the costs and the timeframes. Our CAT tool (computer- assisted translation) automatically identifies the modified segments by comparison with the previous source version and the associated translation memories. For Nyrstar, whose zinc and sulphuric acid SDS are updated annually following the revisions of the ECHA sheets and the national OELV values, we ensure proactive regulatory monitoring and signal the affected sections even before the client mandates us. This SDS portfolio management service is available on annual subscription.
Does Cegeka require ISO 17100 certified translators for its SaaS manuals?
The ISO 17100 standard (translation services) defines the process and human resource qualification requirements for the providers of translation services. It is not a certification of the individual translators, but a certification of the translation agency as an entity. Cegeka, which is itself ISO 27001 certified and works on projects for regulated sectors, generally requires of its translation partners that they operate according to an ISO 17100 compatible process, with systematic revision by a second translator and documented management of the terminological resources. We operate according to this process for all IT and SaaS documentation, with official SAP and Microsoft Dynamics terminology glossaries integrated into our CAT environment.