Drawing approvals
Drawing approvals
(OP)
In our design dept we use several CAD applications. When sending a drawing for approval via our Electronic Document Control System (EDMS) we either send the actual file or an Adobe Acrobat .pdf version. In most cases the engineer approving the drawing does not have access to the software that created it (Inventor, etc.) and in many cases receives an "uneditable" .pdf. As such, before the drawing leaves the design dept we type the approving party's name in the approval block with only one date... the date the drawing is sent for approval. It is often days before the drawing makes it's way through the necessary approval process and is "released". This creates a problem... the date on the drawing is not exactly the same as the date indicated in EDMS as the approval date. This leads to a question; When indicating a date for approval, or revision, is this the date the draftsperson changed the file, or is it the date the approving person "signs" the drawing. ANSI standard says it is the date of "implementation", which is a bit ambiguous. We have been resolving this issue by stating that the dates on the drawing are "for reference only, see electronic document management system for approvals and dates". Has anyone else encountered this problem and how did you resolve it?





RE: Drawing approvals
RE: Drawing approvals
This method has worked well for us.
RE: Drawing approvals
ewh- Once the drawing leaves my control in the EDMS system I have no control over the file or knowledge of when a document is released. The last person in the chain is our configuration manager who does not have the multitudes of different software (AutoCAD, Inventor, PowerPCB, PowerLogic, etc.) or the skills to edit in these different programs. The only way to coordinate the actual dates & signatures is the method you use... but this would mean the configuration manager would need a copy of every program used to create controlled documents... or send the files back to the designer for signature/date reconcilliation, a step no one wants.
I agree that the date of implementation is the date of the last approval in the chain, but my company has not interpreted it this way. They believe that the date the draftsperson/designer changes the file is the date of implementation.
Back to square one. :-(
RE: Drawing approvals
RE: Drawing approvals
RE: Drawing approvals
RE: Drawing approvals
RE: Drawing approvals
RE: Drawing approvals
I've also worked at a different company that essentially made the revision part of the drawing/part number, specifically to control issues with releases to the shop floor. I suppose it depends on the abilities of whatever system is available to you.
RE: Drawing approvals
RE: Drawing approvals
DRC1- I only have control over the drawing when it is in my "workflow". Once I finish the drawing and send it for approval, it is no longer under my control. It may then take a day or two (or more) before it is finally released. If the approving party has comments or additional changes they route it back to me and the process starts again.
RE: Drawing approvals
I should have also clarified my current company's practice. The date on the drawing is when it was last modified, which can be different than when it was actually approved. Even then, approval of the drawing can be separate from approval of tooling based on the drawing, which can be separate from approval to release the parts to production, which in turn can be separate from the date the parts start to be used in the shop.
It's a bit convoluted, but each item is tied to an ECO/ECN, and our procedures farily clearly state the distinction between all the dates. Our own drawing database includes date fields for both last modified as well as approval.