DRAWING MANAGEMENT C H A P T E R F O U R T E E N

OBJECTIVES 1. Understand the importance of document management and control. 2. Understand how an electronic file can be used as both a communication and a storage device. 3. Understand the differences between CD-ROM, optical disk, and other storage options. 4. Describe printing and reproduction methods for technical drawings. 5. Be familiar with the Internet and the World Wide Web and understand how to use them in the product development process.

MANAGING THE DESIGN PROCESS Example: Boeing Corporation’s Preferred Business Process. (Copyright © Boeing.) Notice all the stages before the product gets to the customer… If this process is to happen on time, careful planning is needed.

Design Milestones and Design Reviews Typical milestones may include the following: Product proposal Design proposal Development plan Engineering release Product release Design Review You may need to provide the documentation for design decisions, for example, the fastener selections, company standards, analysis, tolerances, and other information.

UNDERSTANDING DRAWING MANAGEMENT To control how drawings are released for manufacture, companies and industries have developed procedures to eliminate misunderstandings and costly mistakes. Preserving Documentation Drawings serve as an important part of an agreement between a designer and a producer. Companies may need to produce the documentation for various purposes, such as defending themselves against product safety liability and patent infringement lawsuits. In the event of legal issues, you must be able to produce the document as it was provided and in a method that is admissible in a court of law. Whether they are on paper, on Mylar, or in electronic format, drawings are important company records and must be retrieved, reproduce Improving Efficiency Effective storage and retrieval of engineering design documentation can make a difference in a company’s ability to succeed in today’s world marketplace. The effective use of a 3D design database can provide many benefits outside of just reduced drafting time or a shortened product development cycle.

DRAWING APPROVAL AND RELEASE The drawing’s creator signs and dates the “drawn by” block, perhaps a checker signs off and dates the “checked by” block, and the engineer approves the drawing for release by signing and dating the “approved by” block.

Electronic signature (Courtesy of Big Sky Laser.) Electronic signature files are used to approve this engineering order form.

CHANGE ORDERS An ECO, also called an engineering change notification (ECN) and sometimes an engineering change request (ECR), details the nature of the change in a separate document. After the ECO is approved, the drawing is revised and the revision noted on the drawing. Engineering Change Order. (Courtesy of Zolo Technologies.)

REVISION BLOCK A revision block describes the change and may also indicate the number of the engineering change order (which contains more information about the change). The revision block requires approval Revision Block. (Courtesy of Dynojet Research, Inc.) Engineering Change Request Tracking Software. (Courtesy of Dynojet Research, Inc.)

ORGANIZED DIRECTORY STRUCTURES Your CAD file directories may be project based, whereas other files may be organized differently. Making the directories work as you do will help you find what you need easily. An Organized Directory Structure

FILE NAMING CONVENTIONS Consider: Company-wide policy for naming files Your own file system (to make them easy to find). Part number and drawing tracking software allows the user to search the description to find a drawing or model (Courtesy of Dynojet Research, Inc.)

DRAWING STANDARDS Drawing standards can help you work more productively and can contribute to the usefulness of the drawings as company records. Company standards may be in place to introduce consistency in the way drawings are constructed. Possible Standards: Layers / Names Colors Line types & weights Blocks Borders Fonts & Dim Styles Etc…

REPRODUCTION OF DRAWINGS PDF file Web or computer network Printing / Plotting on Mylar Diazo Process Xerox prints Fax machines (Courtesy of Xerox Corporation.)