Table Of ContentCopyright © 2008 by William Andrew Inc.
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ISBN: 978-0-8155-1595-1
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Watts, Frank B.
Engineering documentation control handbook : configuration management in industry. -- 3rd ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8155-1595-1
1. Engineering--Management. 2. Engineering--Documentation. 3. Configuration management. 4.
Production management. I. Title.
TA190.W38 2008
658.5--dc22
2008009802
Printed in the United States of America
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Preface
The wide acceptance of this book has been very gratifying. This work
seems to have taken on a life of its own. The publisher wrote: “Your book
over the last year has resulted in the most ‘Buy This Book’ links of our
entire catalog … It is very well received by the ‘Googleites.’ ” Sales have
exceeded 10,000 at the writing of this third edition.
Why? While management fads come and go, buzz-word programs
abound, software acronyms and software applications ebb and fl ow, the
basics of engineering documentation control remain the same. The author
thinks of himself as “the Vince Lombardi of document control.” Basic block-
ing and tackling! When the publisher asked for a third edition, it was there-
fore diffi cult to think of ways to add value. Some restructuring, editing, and
much clarifi cation has been done. The index is improved. New chapters on
the Supply Chain and on Implementation are combinations of new material
and a consolidation of information that was scattered elsewhere in the book.
Whether you think of this subject as Engineering Documentation
Control (EDC) or Confi guration Management (CM), it needs to be recog-
nized as a key business strategy. The wall or gap between Engineering
and the rest of the world has existed too long in many companies. The
“throw it over the wall” syndrome can be overcome. It is prevalent in new
product releases, bills of material, change requests, and change processes.
Simple, make-sense, fast, accurate, effi cient, measured, and well-understood
Engineering Documentation Control/Confi guration Management can tear
down that wall—bridge that gap.
The title of this book indicates that Engineering Documentation Control
and Confi guration Management are equivalent terms. But are they really?
Many people feel that EDC is a subset of CM. Some think of EDC as what
they are currently doing and CM as what they ought to be doing. Much of
this discussion is in “the eyes of the beholder.”
Historically, the CM term was largely invented by the Defense Industry
and the Department of Defense (DOD). The term had been used and abused
so extensively by this segment of our manufacturing world that it had taken
on a parochial and a very complex meaning. Commercial businesses began
taking back the CM term in a simplifi ed form. Many defense product man-
ufacturers have been moving toward commercial practices—simplifi ed
Confi guration Management—a healthy trend. Of late, the software
confi guration management folks have largely usurped the CM term for
application of CM to the development and production of software tools.
xv
Watts_Prelims.indd xv 6/21/2008 11:36:50 AM
xvi PREFACE
The author is thus all the more pleased to have consistently used the
Engineering Documentation Control term.
Can CM in a Defense Industry context be made simple? A study
published in National Defense magazine, September 1992, by George
Krikorian, PE, summarizes the conditions at that time. “The results revealed
that the cost of a product when selling to DOD increases from fi ve percent
to one-hundred percent as compared to the same or similar product cost to
a commercial (non-DOD) enterprise.” One of the signifi cant reasons given
was MIL-SPECS and Standards. Confi guration Management standards
make up a signifi cant portion of the total DOD Specs and Standards. There
has been some signifi cant reform in the DOD, however, so the hope for
military contractors and taxpayers is improving.
The primary goal of this book is to keep CM simple. The basics of Best
in Class Confi guration Management will be presented from the ground up,
for application in either a “commercial” or “military” kind of business.
Meanwhile, some in the commercial segment are erroneously moving
toward more complex CM. The Automotive and Aeronautical segments
have written their own versions of ISO standards adding a layer of bureau-
cracy that is making our autos and air transport expensive, adding little
value or safety to the products. The FDA continues to make their require-
ments excessive. The ISO standards have evolved but not necessarily for
the better. While claiming to be more general and less specifi c, the page
count has, nevertheless, increased signifi cantly.
The typical CM approach is to acquire and read all the applicable
commercial and Military Specs, Standards, and Directives, and then design
the system around them. On the contrary, every manufacturing business
should develop a simple, make-sense, fast, accurate, effi cient, measured,
and well-understood approach to Engineering Documentation Control/
Confi guration Management and then examine the DOD, MIL, DOE, FDA,
ISO/QS/AS, and all other applicable agency standards. After careful
examination of those standards, add or modify that approach to satisfy the
customer/agency specifi cations, as and if necessary.
Since the fi rst edition of this book, many companies have become ISO/
AS/QS-certifi ed. Write down what you do and do what you have written,
it is said. They have also come to realize that the certifi cation only gets
their CM practices minimally documented and followed. A signifi cant
majority of ISO requirements and problems involve the CM discipline, but
there is no built-in assurance in the ISO certifi cation that the processes
are effi cient, measured, productive, or that they out-perform the competi-
tion. Thus, writing down what you do and doing what is written is a form
of insanity, which is defi ned as doing the same thing over and over
again, and expecting different results. The emphasis of this book is not on
Watts_Prelims.indd xvi 6/21/2008 11:36:50 AM
PREFACE xvii
ISO requirements. The emphasis is on helping people help their compa-
nies toward exceptional CM processes.
The quick release of new product documentation, minimal structuring
of a single Bill of Material database, the ability to request changes, and to
change the documentation and product quickly and accurately are critical
to a company’s profi tability. Thus, the development and implementation of
a simple, make-sense, fast, accurate, effi cient, measured, and well-under-
stood CM system is an important business strategy. Simply put, it sets the
stage for innovation in Engineering and Operations.
The basic principles of world class EDC/CM are applicable, regardless
of the kind of manufacturing or the kind of customer. Toward achieving
this make-sense approach, the following will be the guiding principles of
this book:
(cid:2) Develop a generic approach that is good for commercial or
agency-regulated companies. Many of the existing texts on
this subject address DOD Specifi cations and Standards. This
work takes a generic approach.
(cid:2) Take the acronyms out wherever possible! The typical text
uses an index of over eight pages of acronyms and abbrevia-
tions. The goal here will be to only use those acronyms which
are universal in the manufacturing business and to explain
each where it is fi rst used.
(cid:2) Use the English language, defi ning terms as we go, as opposed
to using, for example, over twenty pages of glossary found in
one text.
(cid:2) Take the jargon, mystique, double-talk, fads, and unneces-
sary complexity out of Confi guration Management.
(cid:2) Systematically approach the discipline by using an example
product—an electronic ignition, software programmed,
front-end loader with a variety of features and options.
Develop the design documentation for this product, structure
the bills of material with operations people, release it from
engineering to manufacturing, request changes, change it,
and close the loop by knowing when each change was made
and what is in each product as needed.
(cid:2) Develop principles that are sound for any size company,
while recognizing the nuances that may be present in small,
large, multinational, make-to-print, make-to-stock, design-
to-order, or other types of discrete product manufacturing.
(cid:2) Develop principles that are sound for any type of product,
while recognizing differences in products that vary from nee-
dles to nuclear ships, and production rates that vary from
quantities per second to years per quantity one.
Watts_Prelims.indd xvii 6/21/2008 11:36:50 AM
xviii PREFACE
(cid:2) Emphasize early costing of the product and changes, a gener-
ally ignored aspect of CM practice.
(cid:2) Show how redundant Bills of Material can be eliminated,
how to simplify the Bill of Material structuring, and how to
evolve bills in lead-time to produce the product.
(cid:2) Develop generic CM processes in the form of fl ow diagrams
and standards to use as a guide in the development of your
own processes. Assure that the horse (documentation) comes
before the cart (the product).
(cid:2) Establish methods for achieving fast processing of releases,
requests, and changes. The emphasis will be on speed—a
long overlooked criteria—oversight of which proves to be a
costly. This will be accomplished while improving quality,
not hurrying up to do it wrong!
(cid:2) Outline methods for analyzing an existing system and imple-
menting a new system. Outline methods that can be used,
whether reinventing the system and/or using continuous
improvement techniques.
(cid:2) Explore methods for standardizing the processes and audit-
ing them.
(cid:2) Outline the importance of EDC/CM in the supply chain, note
how the chain can be broken and address the issues facing the
Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) and the supplier.
(cid:2) Share benchmarking surveys and analysis with the readers.
(cid:2) Identify the most serious, most often made mistakes in the
discipline.
(cid:2) Distinguish between Engineering Documentation Control
and Confi guration Management.
(cid:2) Develop key measurements of all the processes for speed,
quality, and volume.
(cid:2) Develop EDC/CM rules and give reasons for the rules.
Realize that almost all rules have exceptions. Realize that all
the rules need not be followed in your company, but violation
of very many will lead to chaos.
Such goals can be accomplished without sacrifi cing product quality. In
fact, the quality of documentation releases and changes as well as the quality
of the product must increase as new or improved Engineering Documentation
Control/Confi guration Management is implemented.
Good CM alone will not achieve best in class Total Quality Manufacturing
(TQM); however, best in class TQM cannot be achieved without best in
class Confi guration Management.
Watts_Prelims.indd xviii 6/21/2008 11:36:50 AM
PREFACE xix
Engineering Documentation Control is a signifi cant business strategy
and an absolute foundation block for: TQM (Total Quality Management),
JIT (Just In Time), Cross-Functional Teams (Concurrent Engineering),
Engineering/Manufacturing/Supply Chain software systems, Lean
Manufacturing, meeting domestic or international standards, and effi cient
manufacturing. In fact, it must be a signifi cant company strategy if best in
class or world-class manufacturing is to be achieved.
One reviewer of this book titled his review, “Setting the Stage for
Innovation.” Time for innovation in design and manufacturing can be
realized, with the current work force, by fi rst making the EDC/CM pro-
cesses simple, make-sense, fast, accurate, effi cient, measured, and well-
understood.
My thanks to the universities who have sponsored my seminar. Also
to the over 7000 folks who have attended—I learn something in each
seminar. My many customers also deserve hearty thanks since I learn
something from each of them. Last, but not least, thanks to my wife Jane
and our family for encouragement.
Frank B Watts, BSME, CCDM
ec3corp@rkymtnhi.com
www.ecm5tools.com
Winter Park, Colorado
June 2008
Watts_Prelims.indd xix 6/21/2008 11:36:50 AM
1 Introduction
Why do we need Engineering Documentation at all? Why control that
documentation? The mere use of the word “control” puts most engineers
into a very defensive mode. Are we trying to stifl e the engineer’s creativity?
What is there to “manage” about the confi guration of a product?
Let us fi rst identify the basic “raw materials” of Product Manufacturing—
the very essence of product manufacturing. There are three primary elements:
(cid:2) Tools (machine, mold, software, etc.)
(cid:2) People
(cid:2) A product embodied in design drawings and specs
So why is it a surprise for some to hear that the control of those design
documents is a critical discipline? Think about it. Without design documents,
you have no product. Without control of design documents (and the manu-
facturing processes), you have chaos.
W hy do architects make drawings and specifi cations for a home or plant?
Do they do this for their own pleasure or for a trade magazine or show? Isn’t
the documentation done so that the customers get what they want? Aren’t the
documents for the builder who has to build the house and for the eventual
owner who will have to maintain it? Try building or maintaining a product
without adequate drawings and specs, it becomes especially diffi cult and
error-prone when changes are being made. Try controlling the cost without
controlling the changes. Still, most businesses operate to some extent
without proper, timely, or adequate control on their documentation. The
symptoms are usually everywhere. Let us take a look at the symptoms:
Manufacturing says:
(cid:2) I don’t understand what I’m supposed to build
(cid:2) What criteria do we test to
(cid:2) Where is the change I need to:
Reduce costs
Avoid making scrap
Avoid making parts that will have to be reworked
(cid:2) Will this change increase the “bone pile” of down-level material
Sales says:
(cid:2) You mean the product isn’t ready for the market window
(cid:2) Where is that promised new feature
1
Watts_Ch01.indd 1 6/21/2008 11:38:51 AM
2 ENGINEERING DOCUMENTATION CONTROL HANDBOOK
(cid:2) W hy didn’t we deliver a product with the options the customer
asked for
Customer says:
(cid:2) I didn’t get what I ordered
(cid:2) Where is the fi x you promised me
(cid:2) Where is that new feature or option
Dealer/Field Service says:
(cid:2) Shouldn’t my publications match my product
(cid:2) W here is the fi x for this nagging product, fi rmware, or software
problem
Repair says:
(cid:2) I could fi x it easier if I knew what is in this product
(cid:2) W hat changes should be and shouldn’t be incorporated upon
repair
Quality says:
(cid:2) Is this cost in our Cost of Quality
(cid:2) Should we treat ourselves, our suppliers, or our customers
this way
(cid:2) How can we meet our customer’s standards
(cid:2) We can’t meet International and US standards
Employee says:
(cid:2) I asked them to do something about this a long time ago
D o any of these symptoms sound familiar? The cure is: simple, make-sense,
fast, accurate, measured, and well-understood Engineering Documentation
Control/Confi guration Management (EDC/CM). Good design documenta-
tion and its control is the solution for the root cause of these symptoms.
Thus, Confi guration Management is the medicine that cures the root cause
problems and, therefore, the symptoms disappear.
C M, kept simple, results in many benefi ts to the company. What are the
benefi ts of a fast, accurate, and well-understood CM system? Let us take a
look at the potential benefi ts of a carefully planned CM strategy.
Watts_Ch01.indd 2 6/21/2008 11:38:51 AM
1: INTRODUCTION 3
Benefi ts :
(cid:2) H elps to get new products to the market faster and reduce
delivery time for a customized product.
(cid:2) H appier customers because they see the new option, change,
or feature they had requested, much quicker.
(cid:2) T he customers get what they ordered with fewer missed
delivery commitments.
(cid:2) Reduces the “bone piles” of down-level material.
(cid:2) Gets real cost reductions implemented quicker.
(cid:2) R educes the manufacturing rework and scrap costs signi-
fi cantly.
(cid:2) I mproves Bill of Material (BOM) accuracy and saves the cor-
responding material waste and correction time, resulting in
corresponding improvement in product quality and inventory
accuracy.
(cid:2) E liminates multiple BOM and saves the costs of maintaining
the bills, not to mention eliminating the risks associated with
multiple bills.
(cid:2) Evolution of BOM in lead-time to produce the product.
(cid:2) Reduces fi eld maintenance, retrofi t, and repair cost.
(cid:2) Knows exactly what is noninterchangeable in each product.
(cid:2) I mproves the understanding and communication between
Design Engineering and the rest of the world.
(cid:2) Clarifi es the responsibilities and thus eliminates fi nger
pointing.
(cid:2) Saves wear and tear on Confi guration Managers, Master
Schedulers, and all types of engineers.
(cid:2) Complies with applicable customer or agency standards.
(cid:2) Sorts out changes that are not needed or aren’t cost-effective.
(cid:2) Saves many dollars a year in paper and copying costs alone.
(cid:2) Signifi cant reduction in the cost of quality.
(cid:2) Allow the company to qualify as a best in class producer.
(cid:2) Set the stage for innovation in engineering and manu fac-
turing.
T he ways and means of achieving these benefi ts is not secret, high-tech,
or cost-prohibitive. These benefi ts are attainable. This book will outline
the who, what, how, why, when, where, and how much in order to achieve
an exceptional EDC system. The author has never seen a world-class CM
system; he has, however, brought the best of the best to this book. Who
knows, maybe the best of the best constitutes a world-class system!
Watts_Ch01.indd 3 6/21/2008 11:38:51 AM
4 ENGINEERING DOCUMENTATION CONTROL HANDBOOK
What is Confi guration Management
Confi guration Management is the communications bridge between Design
Engineering and the rest of the world (see Fig. 1.1). This is the single most
important function performed by the CM organization.
T he critical nature of the CM discipline cannot be overemphasized.
American manufacturing has developed a near tradition of Design and the
rest of the company being in an adversarial relationship. It results substan-
tially from the “throw it over the wall” syndrome—the new design release
or engineering change that is done without consultation with the key people
at the right time. Many CM systems are often unwittingly designed to fos-
ter that traditional kind of thinking. The enlightened CM Manager can tear
down the wall, or at least build a bridge over it. Let us face it, generally, the
designers are thinkers and creators, while the operations people are mov-
ers and doers. They will naturally have diffi culty in communicating. The
CM group can enhance communications and ensure that these folks cross
the bridge at the right time for necessary communications and with the
necessary documents.
The CM function must ensure that what crosses the bridge is properly
documented, minimally controlled, available as and when needed, and that
feedback is obtained as to when changes occur in the product. All this
must be done at a minimum cost, while appearing “transparent” to the
creative design people and the rest of the world.
W hile not getting in the way of the Design Engineer (programmer or
software engineer), it must be kept in mind that the engineer’s product is
not just a working prototype unit, but that it is accurate specifi cation and
drawings for all the parts in that product ready for production. The
Engineering/CM product is thus Design documentation. The primary cus-
tomer for this documentation is not Design Engineering, but is manufac-
turing, suppliers, fi eld service, and the company’s customer. The company’s
customer must be paramount among these “users” (a term that is much less
acceptable to this writer than “customer”). The vast majority of the design
A BRIDGE FOR COMMUNICATIONS
DESIGN REST OF
ENGINEER THE WORLD
Figure 1.1 Confi guration management defi ned.
Watts_Ch01.indd 4 6/21/2008 11:38:51 AM
