Drawing Revisions

[Secretagdan]

I am looking for ideas on how to deal with revisions in my office.

The current process is a bit broken and it needs to be fixed. Now understand the type of drafting that I do is more for manufacturing, but I would imagine that the process that is applied in other fields will likely apply here. Most of the time revisions are not an issue, but once in a while, when we get a large project it can become a problem. The problem arises when either the sales man (in house) or the client cannot make up their minds on what they want to do sometimes.

I often find myself going from drawing version 1 – 8, then settling on version 2, then the next day they want version 4. Or we will get to version 8, and then 3 weeks later go back to version 1. It can be frustrating at times, spinning my wheels, but it’s the way it works sometimes. I am sure that you get the picture on how all that works now.

Currently, as a revision moves through the office, I will indicate on the drawing which version it is, so that others will know which one that we are working from. If I think the change is minimal, I will save over the drawing. If it is a major change, I will create a new version. New versions will be indicated in my title block, date updated and sometimes the ‘file path’ (if it is a new version).

The current method does work 90% of the time, but the 10% of the time there gets to be so many revisions, that the sales man and/or client get confused, on whether or not they are looking at the most recent edition of a drawing.

I have updated my title block to automate some of the information, so that I can ‘idiot proof’ parts of the process. I am working with 11” x 17” paper, so I have a small title block area. This means that I can’t add ‘revision’ section to the drawing without eating into the small drawing space I have available to me.

What do other offices do about revisions, and file management with revisions? I am looking for a ‘keep it simple stupid’ solution, though there may not be one. I want to make it ‘idiot proof’ (sales & clients) so that it is not confusing, or complicated. Anyone have any ideas?

Thanks for any advice in advance.

[Pablo Ferral]

I prefer to leave the file name the same through out the project. We create a sub folder called 'Old Versions' and when a change is required we save a copy back into this folder with the revsion number appended to the drawing name. This allows us to 'Go back' and grab old details if they are required, but everyone knows that the version on file is allways the current version.

 

All drawing issues are dealt with via PDF or paper (This is standard in the construction industry in the UK). If the client wants to go back to an old version this is still a revsion, and the revsion number marches on regardless. I save all the PDF's with the revsion number appended so that the project managers can easily find the right revision.

 

Drawing registers and issue sheets can be worth the effort in this sort of situation, However If I need to short cut this I tend to copy/paste the relevant part of the drawing into an E-Mail to send to the client for fast track approval before doing an 'Official' submittal. The E-Mail tracks the time and date sent, I can get instant feedback and I don't have to spend a lot of time tracking my drawing submittals whilst I am batting ideas backward and forward with the designers/Architects.

 

Folder/File naming example for DWG Files

-My Drawings

0001 My Drawing

--Old Versions

0001_0 My Drawing

0001_A My Drawing

0001_B My Drawing

[rkent]

I follow Pablo's method. There is no way for someone to know if they are looking at the current release.

 

Actually there is one way, in the nuclear industry every copy is logged and signed for and when a new rev is being issued the old copies have to be logged back in. That way there is never an old rev floating around out there. Probably not gonna work for your situation.

[Pablo Ferral]

Ha! I can imagine what would happen if I suggested that at My company!

[nukecad]

I also work in nuclear.

 

Before a drawing goes onto the central registry it goes through provisional issues, i.e DrawingNo-p1, DrawingNo-P2, etc. If for some reason the end client wants to go back to an earlier issue then that would be reissued with the next P*, that way the highest P* will be the latest issue.

Only once the design has been accepted does the drawing go to revision 'A' and placed on the central registry.

[Secretagdan]

Ha! The second that an old revision 'disappears' is when it is decided that we are using the old drawing. At least that seems to be the way that it works around here. I would love to do that, but it is not possible.

Pablo Ferral -- I have made and attempt to do a test run with and ideas similar to what you have suggested. So far there are only a few details to work out, but so far seems to be working out. Let’s see if it stands the test of time...

[Pablo Ferral]

Good Luck!

[KiLLiNG-TiME]

All our clouds & revision tag a triangle with the number or letter in are by layer in the model space of the sheet.

 

Z079-A or 1

Z079-B or 2

(whether they are a letter or a number depends on the project but they are always the same as the revision in the title sheet)

 

So even when bound the revisions are on there own layers.

Hence you can turn them on & off & see revisons from the past or present.

[Innovation]

There are some very good drawing management applications on the market that not only automate the handling of various revision rules but also provide for limiting access to certain revision history. We have a lot of clients using autoCAd and these products to ease the process and also reduce risk of costly errors.

[nukecad]

Ha! The second that an old revision 'disappears' is when it is decided that we are using the old drawing.

 

We just save the drawing with the issue appended to the filename eg. 12345P1, 12345P2, 12345P3, 12345A, 12345A-P1, 12345A-P2, etc. that way the "old revision" is still there whenever you want to look at it.

 

Of course this means you have to do a "save as" everytime you revise a drawing; (thats realy hard work typing a new filename).

[SGarcia]

All our clouds & revision tag a triangle with the number or letter in are by layer in the model space of the sheet.

 

Z079-A or 1

Z079-B or 2

(whether they are a letter or a number depends on the project but they are always the same as the revision in the title sheet)

 

So even when bound the revisions are on there own layers.

Hence you can turn them on & off & see revisons from the past or present.

 

We also do it this way. We put the clouds and deltas (triangles with revision number) on different layers. For example, Delta 1 changes are on a layer called L-Revisions_1; Delta 2 changes on L-Revisions_2; etc. On the title block I copy a Delta symbol with the revision number and the date next to it. If you have the room, a quick description too. I also archive the old file in a folder with the date of the change.