Old "Paper" drawing system; "Used on" Field in Title Block..... 1

[vonsteimel]

Greetings,
A while back I overhauled my current employers Technical Data System to bring it up to more modern standards and practices.

Part of this included revising the Title Block, which had been setup for use before any computers or electronic drawing management systems.

One of the fields on the title block was "Used on". The purpose was to list the drawings on which the given part was used. This would allow you to traverse both up & down the BOM by manually pulling drawings. (Go down by looking at the actual BOM; go up by looking at the "used on" field).

There were several problems with doing this and since we were currently using an online ERP system, I did away with this field. However, the owner has always exhibited a fear of reliance on the online ERP -- because if it stops, we stop.

Anyway, I do not recall ever seeing a "Used on" or similar field any place but my current employer. Although back before computers there must have been a big need for recalling this data. Imagine if your revising a bolt and giving it a new number and now you need to reflect this change on all 273 drawings that it is "used on". How could you ever remember where they were used?

So, have you ever seen any "used on" fields on drawings?
How did companies use to keep track of this, some type of ledger for each part?
How does your current company manage this data now?

 

[KENAT]

The drawings in the old systems I worked in the UK had the 'used on' field. Though it wasn't religiously populated.

Posting guidelines faq731-376

http://eng-tips.com/market.cfm?

(probably not aimed specifically at you)
What is Engineering anyway: faq1088-1484​

 

[MintJulep]

Seen it on many drawings from many vendors. Not always populated.

 

[swertel]

We still have it on our drawings. We waste too much time "updating" that field.

The time is wasted because
1) It's not 100% accurate therefore no one can trust it.
2) Since no one can fully trust it, they don't rely on it (aka use it).

We've tried to simplify the process of filling it out by being as generic as possible. This way, it remains accurate for longer and doesn't take as long to update during a revision change. But still, I'm in the same boat as you. The next opportunity I get to revise the drawing boarder and title block, IT'S GONE!

--Scott
www.wertel.pro

 

[ctopher]

We always use "Used on" and "Next Assy".
It helps shop floor to know without guessing where the part goes.
We track documentation. The one's that don't, have never been trained in document control.

Chris, CSWA
SolidWorks 14
ctopher's home
SolidWorks Legion

 

[3DDave]

The only use it has is, if there is a change to the design of the part, to determine where to look for the affect the change might have. Or if there is a whole stash of parts lying around and someone wants to know what they are good for.

Frankly, one might try to put all the effectivity information about a part on the drawing, including what purchase orders bought the part, supplier information, QA and QC results. But eventually, it just is too much. Once a PDM system is in place there is little reason to have any of that on the drawing, even revision history. Copies can get marked with date issued and current revision, the way ASSIST (quicksearch.dla.mil) now tags every page of every document it copies out, so that the recipient can tell copies apart.

 

[MikeHalloran]

The 'used on' field _was_ invaluable for traversing up a BOM before PDM, particularly for one-off or low volume products where most custom parts were unique to one particular product. In those days, one of the first documents to be produced was a 'family tree', a graphical tree diagram of the entire product structure, from/on which all of the product's drawing numbers and titles were assigned, before any of the drawings existed.

The 'used on' field is unnecessary today, except in the case where you're out in the middle of nowhere or at the bottom of an ocean, with no access to anything but local data, trying to fix a complicated weapon system, which you need fixed because someone is shooting at you.


Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA

 

[drawoh]

vonsteimel,

Maintaining a "used-on" field on a drawing title block is a lot of work. I tried to put a "designed-for" field on our title block, but someone insisted on interpreting it as "used-on", and I had to delete it.

In principle, I do not want to update fabrication and sub-assembly drawings unless there has been a modification to the part. Maybe you have to clarify a note. You should be logging the revision number when you fabricate parts. If the difference between revision[ ]B and revision[ ]F is that it has been used on four new assemblies, you are being silly.

--
JHG

 

[ewh]

I have worked for companies that used the "used on" block for only the initial use. It was not intended to be updated.

“Know the rules well, so you can break them effectively.”
-Dalai Lama XIV

 

[ctopher]

ewh,
That is how we use it, only the initial use. It does not get updated unless somebody wants it during a revision.

Chris, CSWA
SolidWorks 14
ctopher's home
SolidWorks Legion

 

[TheTick]

Replace it with a hyperlink to whatever product management system you're using.

 

[CheckerHater]

Will hyperlink work on paper?

 

[TheTick]

Magic paper. You need to click with your forehead at high speed.

 

[ewh]

That's what they've been doing out on the floor!

“Know the rules well, so you can break them effectively.”
-Dalai Lama XIV

 

[CheckerHater]

Banging heads while laying on the floor?