Single English master vs multilingual text insets in FrameMaker — workflow advice?

Hi all,

I’m looking for some insight into how others are managing translations in Adobe FrameMaker, particularly when working with multiple languages and text insets.

In our current setup, we maintain a large number of language-specific text insets across different manuals. While this works, it introduces quite a bit of complexity when it comes to updating content, relinking insets, and handling DTP after translations are returned. It can also make long-term consistency across languages harder to manage.

I guess I'm questioning if this is the correct approach, as opposed to maintaining a single English master version of manuals and insets, and then generating all translations from that source. From a workflow and file management perspective, a single-source approach seems like it could simplify maintenance and reduce manual effort.

Has anyone here moved from a multi-language inset setup to an English master workflow? If so, what were the pros and cons, and did it improve efficiency in practice?

Im guessing a move in this direction would also assist in a shift towards an xliff workflow, as opposed to MIF files we send to translators now.

Thanks in advance for any insights or experiences you can share.