How the Würth Group leverages HeyGen to reduce video translation costs by 80%

The Würth Group is the global market leader in the development, production, and sale of fastening and assembly materials. More than 400 companies operating over 2,800 branch offices and shops form part of this global family business, which hails from the German town of Künzelsau. Würth’s corporate culture is characterized by values like openness, gratitude, respect, curiosity, responsibility, humility, and modesty. These values are the cornerstones of Würth’s success and the basis for all collaboration.

With 88,000 employees spread across more than 80 countries, there are multilingual teams with diverse operational needs. To bridge communication and training gaps, Würth needed a solution that could streamline its communication processes while being cost-effective and efficient. That’s what led Würth to HeyGen. 

Communicating with a global workforce

As a family-owned global business, Würth faced the challenge of ensuring consistent and effective communication across its multinational workforce. Executives—including the CEO and the boards—needed to share updates and strategic initiatives in multiple languages to reach employees in regions like APAC, Europe, and the Americas. Existing processes relied on expensive studio-produced voiceovers or imperfect subtitle solutions, which were neither scalable nor cost-effective.

“We had quite a need for a tool like HeyGen because if you are an executive vice president, for instance, in the Asia Pacific region, you would be responsible for our companies in Japan, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Cambodia,” said Andreas Henschel, Group Leader in Corporate Communications at Würth.

Compounding these challenges were cost and time inefficiencies. Traditional video production methods, including transcription, translation, and subtitling, were resource-intensive. Creating voiceovers in external studios costs €800 to €1,200 for 10 minutes of audio depending on the required language.

“When voice artists were too expensive for an individual project, we would try to add subtitles for different languages from the English version,” said Andreas. “That was an insufficient solution and it was still quite expensive because people that do not understand English would still struggle with having an English video with just subtitles in their language.”

Implementing HeyGen and expanding use cases

HeyGen enabled Würth to produce multilingual videos with ease. Regional executive vice presidents use HeyGen to create monthly updates in up to 10 languages, ensuring teams across Asia-Pacific, Europe, and the Americas receive timely and localized messages. These videos are shared via Würth’s intranet systems, which automatically align content with users’ preferred language settings, enhancing accessibility and engagement.

“The video translation feature and interface usability are so good compared to competitors. HeyGen is without an alternative,” said Andreas.

Würth found another use case for HeyGen to train teams on its complex products. With a diverse portfolio that includes industrial tools and electronic components, Würth required multilingual training materials for both internal teams and customers. However, language barriers hindered the effectiveness of training sessions, whether remotely or on-site.

“Because we have a global sales force that needs to be taught the selling points and the inner workings of most of our products, there was a problem transferring the knowledge from our R&D departments to our product management and then to our global sales force,” said Andreas.

Now, teams can record workshops in their native language, and HeyGen translates and produces polished videos in multiple languages. This capability allowed teams to update specific segments seamlessly without re-filming entire videos, significantly reducing time and resource requirements while ensuring content accuracy.

“The best thing about it is even if you make a mistake, like stumbling over a word, you can easily revise it in HeyGen,” said Andreas. “If there is a product update, you can change it without reshooting the entire video. That's something our trainers are discovering is a huge asset.”

Becoming a video-first company

The adoption of HeyGen is changing how the Würth Group communicates and trains its global workforce, shifting the company from written to video-based communication.

• Cost savings: By replacing traditional studio voiceovers with HeyGen’s AI translation capabilities, Würth achieved 80% cost savings. Producing executive presentations now costs significantly less, enabling the company to allocate resources more strategically.
• Time efficiency: HeyGen halved the time required for video production. A recent 65-minute presentation from the CEO and the company owner, translated into eight languages, was completed in four working days—a process that would have traditionally taken at least eight days.
• Improved accessibility: With videos available in up to 10 languages, Würth’s communication became more inclusive and impactful. Employees could access content tailored to their language preferences, increasing engagement and understanding.
• Enhanced usability: HeyGen’s intuitive interface reduced onboarding time compared to conventional e-learning or video editing tools. Employees could learn to use the tool in just 45 minutes, empowering teams across Würth’s global offices to adopt the technology seamlessly.

“HeyGen has revolutionized the way we create video content and has helped use video as a form of communication,” said Andreas. “It has made communication much more accessible and much more personal.”