Standardised, manufacturer-independent reference terminology for the automotive industry is now available. It came about as part of an EU project with the goal of facilitating access to vehicle manufacturers’ repair and maintenance information (RMI) by “authorised independent operators” (independent workshops, testing institutes, etc.) (EN ISO 18542 standard).
As a central partner, the STAR Group was responsible for preparing the initial data set, providing a terminology manager and undertaking a large part of the project management. Working closely with experts from automotive manufacturers and authorised independent operators, search-relevant English terms were identified, validated and then translated into German and French. To facilitate this collaborative creation and maintenance process, the STAR Group implemented a central, web-based workflow solution based on WebTerm 7 (terminology management) and STAR CLM (corporate language management).
The aim was not to collect as many terms as possible, but to collect as many terms as relevant to the vehicle category as a whole. The digital reference terminology currently contains 521 detailed data records and is now available in three languages from our collaborative partner DIN Software GmbH. Read more.
Following its initial publication, experts are once again working on the terminology: It will be expanded yearly with up-to-date terms for all vehicle classes. In 2020, the main focus will be on the “heavy goods vehicle” sector. The system and data architecture are set up in such a way that additional sectors in the EN ISO 18542 standard (such as motorcycles and agricultural vehicles), as well as additional languages, can be easily included. This means the new digital terminology also offers users an interesting long-term perspective.
