Contents xi

Contents

1 Introduction ............................................................................ 20
What Is CM .................................................................................. 23
The CM Ladder ............................................................................ 26
The CM Discipline ........................................................................ 26
The CM System ............................................................................ 28
History Of Configuration Management ........................................ 29
The Organization ........................................................................... 30
Document Control Functions ........................................................ 31
CM Functions................................................................................ 32
Distributed CM ............................................................................. 33
The Manager’s Job ....................................................................... 34
Manager Of Configuration Management ...................................... 34
Organization Within CM ............................................................... 36
Summary .................................................................................... 39

xi
xii Engineering Documentation Control Handbook

2 Product Documentation ......................................................... 41

Document Formats and Standards ................................................ 41
Title Block 42
Revision Block .............................................................................. 46
Body of a Part Drawing................................................................ 47
English or Metric ........................................................................... 49
Document Signatures .................................................................... 49
On Line Signatures ....................................................................... 51
Notes .................................................................................... 51
Body of the Assembly Drawing .................................................... 52
Assembly Parts List ...................................................................... 54
Engineering Parts List ................................................................... 56
Units of Measure .......................................................................... 56
Specification Control and Source Control Drawings .................... 56
AVL - QVL - AML ..................................................................... 57
Item Specifications ........................................................................ 60
Make-to-Stock Product Specifications ......................................... 61
Make-to-Order Product Specifications ......................................... 62
Make-to-Print Product Specifications ........................................... 64
Design of Process Specifications .................................................. 64
Document Sizes ............................................................................ 65
Proprietary Note ........................................................................... 65
Document Groups ......................................................................... 65
Distributed DOC Control/CM ....................................................... 68
Files and Masters .......................................................................... 71

3 Identification Numbers .......................................................... 73

Introduction ................................................................................... 73
Product and Model Number.......................................................... 73
Part Number Cycle ....................................................................... 74
End Item “Mods” .......................................................................... 76
Traceability ................................................................................... 77
Serial Numbers ............................................................................. 78
Part Number ................................................................................. 79
Classification Coding ..................................................................... 79
Preferred and Alternate ................................................................ 81
Significant vs. Nonsignificant Part Number .................................. 81
Recommended Part Number ........................................................ 83
Sketch Number ............................................................................. 85
 Contents xiii

Part Number Assignment ............................................................. 85

Changing the Part Numbering System .......................................... 86
Revision Numbers and Letters ..................................................... 87
Revision Levels ............................................................................. 90
Page Revision Levels.................................................................... 90
Change Identification Number ...................................................... 91
What Gets a Part Number ............................................................ 91
Item Marking and Labels .............................................................. 93

4 Interchangeability .................................................................. 96
Interchangeability Defined ............................................................ 96
Compatible .................................................................................... 98
Interchangeable—Which Items .................................................... 98
Spare Parts and Assemblies ......................................................... 99
Used On .................................................................................. 100
Examples to Ponder .................................................................... 101
Interchangeability Test ................................................................ 105
Part Number Change Logic ........................................................ 106
Form and Function ...................................................................... 108
Affect on the Field Units ............................................................ 108
PCB Interchangeability/“Bug Fixes” .......................................... 110
When in Doubt ............................................................................ 114

5 Bill of Material .................................................................... 115

Data Responsibility ..................................................................... 115
Data Dictionary ........................................................................... 116
Item Master File.......................................................................... 117
Design Engineering Data ............................................................ 117
Marked Up Parts List ................................................................. 120
Manufacturing Data .................................................................... 121
Field Support Data ...................................................................... 122
Data Element Criteria ................................................................. 123
Purchasing a System ................................................................... 123
Bills Of Material (BOM) ............................................................ 125
Parts List and BOM.................................................................... 126
BOM History .............................................................................. 127
One BOM Data Base ................................................................. 129
100% BOM Accuracy ................................................................ 131
What Goes Into the BOM........................................................... 132
xiv Engineering Documentation Control Handbook

Structuring the Bill of Material .................................................... 134

Engineering Structure.................................................................. 135
Manufacturing Structure ............................................................. 136
Materials/Accounting Structure .................................................. 138
Field Support Structure ............................................................... 138
MRP/Phantom Solution ............................................................... 138
Common Industry Problem ......................................................... 139
Un-Structure the BOM ............................................................... 139
Field Replaceable Items .............................................................. 140
Cost Centers ............................................................................... 141
Pictorial Assembly Drawings...................................................... 142
Multiple Plant Build ..................................................................... 143
Stock an Item .............................................................................. 143
Buy an Item ................................................................................ 144
Ship Between Buildings/JIT/DFT ............................................... 144
Firmware/Application Software .................................................. 145
The Standard Assembly .............................................................. 146
One Product Structure ................................................................ 147
Structure Right the First Time..................................................... 147
BOM Evolution ........................................................................... 148
Modular Design ........................................................................... 149
Modular Parts List ...................................................................... 150
Modular BOM Benefits .............................................................. 152
Modular Scheduling ..................................................................... 153
The Perfect BOM....................................................................... 154
Referenced Documents .............................................................. 155
Configurator Modules ................................................................. 156

6 Potpourri ............................................................................... 158

Cross Functional Teams.............................................................. 158
Team Make Up ........................................................................... 159
Team Responsibility .................................................................... 160
Team Meetings ........................................................................... 162
Team Action List ........................................................................ 163
Team Success ............................................................................. 164
Team Measurement .................................................................... 165
Design Responsibility .................................................................. 166
Cognizant Engineer List .............................................................. 167
Other Function Engineers ........................................................... 168
 Contents xv

Responsibility .............................................................................. 169

Delegated Design........................................................................ 170
Change Control Boards ............................................................... 171
Process Documentation .............................................................. 176
Fabricated Part Processing ......................................................... 177
Assembly Instructions ................................................................. 178
Process Document Control ......................................................... 179
Process Control Summary .......................................................... 181
Publications ................................................................................. 181
On Time Publications .................................................................. 182
Lot Control .................................................................................. 184
Shelf Life .................................................................................. 185
Down Level Drawings ................................................................ 185
Push/Pull Document Distribution ................................................ 186
Nonconforming Material ............................................................. 187
Field Support ............................................................................... 188
Field Change Order and Kit ........................................................ 188
ISO/QS/AS 9000 ........................................................................ 191

7 Product and Document Release .......................................... 194

Life Cycle Phases ....................................................................... 194
Documents Tied To Release Phase ............................................ 196
The Revision Block ..................................................................... 198
Life Cycle Phase Issues ............................................................. 199
Baseline - Phase Relationships ................................................... 199
CM and The Release Process .................................................... 200
Product Definition Phase ............................................................ 203
Product Development Phase ...................................................... 204
Product Pilot Phase ..................................................................... 206
Product Production Phase........................................................... 207
Product Phase Out ...................................................................... 208
Management of the Release Process ......................................... 209
MRP Status Codes ..................................................................... 210
Release Form and Signatures ..................................................... 210
Release Checklist........................................................................ 212
Closing the Gap in Pilot ............................................................... 213
Catch 22 .................................................................................. 214
The Release Process .................................................................. 215
Release Process Tasks ............................................................... 215
xvi Engineering Documentation Control Handbook

Release Procedure / Flow Diagram ............................................ 217

Measure the Process Time ......................................................... 219
Visibility .................................................................................. 220

8 Change Requests ................................................................. 221

Field Failures ............................................................................... 222
Reliability and Other Test Data .................................................. 223
Material Review Boards (MRB) ................................................ 223
Production Problems ................................................................... 223
Can Anyone Originate a Change? .............................................. 224
Request for Change .................................................................... 224
Request Form Instruction............................................................ 226
Avoid Temptation........................................................................ 227
Request Process Design ............................................................. 229
The Request Flow ....................................................................... 229
Request Process Measurement .................................................. 231
Request List ................................................................................ 232
Summary .................................................................................. 232

9 Change Cost ......................................................................... 233

Costing a Change ........................................................................ 234
Design and Development Cost ................................................... 234
Manufacturing and Field Costs ................................................... 234
Materials and Parts Costs ........................................................... 234
Who Should Estimate Change Cost ............................................ 235
Cost Policy .................................................................................. 236
Cost Pay Back ............................................................................ 236
Which Changes to Cost .............................................................. 237
Change Cost From ...................................................................... 237
Dollar Approvals ......................................................................... 241
Charge Back of Costs................................................................. 241
Dollars Without Delay................................................................. 242

10 Change Control .................................................................... 244

Why Change? ............................................................................. 245
Type of Change .......................................................................... 247
Deviations, Waivers, Off Specs, Etc. ......................................... 247
Urgency .................................................................................. 248
Class of Change .......................................................................... 253
 Contents xvii

What Makes Up A Change ........................................................ 253

What Goes Into the ECO Package ............................................. 255
Distribution of the ECO .............................................................. 258
Depiction of Adds and Deletes ................................................... 258
Flag Notes 260
Mark Up Standard ...................................................................... 261
Same As Except ......................................................................... 263
Revision Drafting and Daisy Chaining ........................................ 263
Queuing Changes ........................................................................ 264
ADCN .................................................................................. 265
Who Signs .................................................................................. 266
Empower the Team .................................................................... 267
Change Impacts .......................................................................... 268
Mark Ups in Production .............................................................. 269
Customer Review and Approval ................................................. 270
Effectivity .................................................................................. 271
Effectivity Responsibility ............................................................. 274
The Effectivity Pipeline ............................................................... 276
Disposition Old Design Parts ...................................................... 277
Effectivity Planning ..................................................................... 278
Effectivity and the Parts List ...................................................... 280
Effectivity / Make to Order ........................................................ 281
Effectivity / Batch Manufacturing .............................................. 281
Sequencing Changes ................................................................... 281
Tracking the Change ................................................................... 283
Status Accounting (Traceability) ................................................ 285
Change Modeling and Testing..................................................... 286
Cover Sheet Revisions ................................................................ 287
Change Forms ............................................................................. 287
Form Instruction - ECO .............................................................. 288
Facts Data Base ......................................................................... 294
Cultural Change .......................................................................... 295

11 Fast Change ......................................................................... 296

Why Process Speed is Important ................................................ 296
Measure the Process Time ......................................................... 299
Publish the Results ...................................................................... 300
Points to Measure ....................................................................... 301
Change Phases ........................................................................... 303
xviii Engineering Documentation Control Handbook

Revision of Masters .................................................................... 304

Set Goals 305
Measure Volume/Reduce Backlog ............................................. 306
Change the System ..................................................................... 309
Missionary Leader ...................................................................... 310
Nine Steps To Success ............................................................... 310
Bootstrap or Reinvent ................................................................. 313
Fast Change Work Flow ............................................................. 314
Work Flow Diagram ................................................................... 315
Engineering Flow ........................................................................ 316
Point of No Return ...................................................................... 318
Configuration Management Flow ................................................ 320
Manufacturing / Implementation Flow ........................................ 322
Quality Factor ............................................................................. 324
Management for Fast Change .................................................... 325
A Case Study .............................................................................. 327
Significance of Speed.................................................................. 331

12 Process Standards and Audits ............................................. 332

CM Policy .................................................................................. 334
Writing and Formatting Standards............................................... 334
Typical Standard ......................................................................... 339
Subjects to Standardize ............................................................... 339
Example Standard ....................................................................... 342
Procedures and Work Flow Diagrams ....................................... 342
Standards Manual ....................................................................... 345
Training .................................................................................. 345
Auditing the CM Processes ........................................................ 346
Outside Auditors View ............................................................... 346
Internal Audit .............................................................................. 347
Audit Plan .................................................................................. 347
Audit Follow Up .......................................................................... 348
Release Process Audit ................................................................ 348
BOM Process Audit ................................................................... 349
Request Process Audit ............................................................... 350
Change Process Audit ................................................................ 350
Audit Frequency.......................................................................... 351
Train Without a Whistle .............................................................. 352
 Contents xix

13 Benchmarking ...................................................................... 353

Benchmarking Pitfall ................................................................... 354
How to Benchmark ..................................................................... 354
Survey—Questionnaire Example ................................................ 355
Automotive Suppliers - Summary Results................................... 361
Survey—University Seminar Attendees ..................................... 367
The Benchmark Report .............................................................. 371
Interpretation ............................................................................... 372

14 CM in the Future / Summary .............................................. 373

System Standards........................................................................ 373
Part Numbers.............................................................................. 373
Interchangeability ........................................................................ 374
The BOM .................................................................................. 374
Clear and Crisp Release Process ............................................... 375
Simplified Request Process ......................................................... 375
One Fast Change Process .......................................................... 375
Automation .................................................................................. 376
Goals and Plans ........................................................................... 377
The Government ......................................................................... 378
ISO and Copycats ....................................................................... 379
The Discipline ............................................................................. 379
Education and Training ............................................................... 380
Industry in General ...................................................................... 380

Reference and Recommended Reading List ........................... 381

Books .................................................................................. 381
Software Applications List .......................................................... 382
Web Sites .................................................................................. 382
Articles .................................................................................. 383

Index ........................................................................................... 384