The reason I started this topic is because I am looking for a different way to control our Customer drawings. We currently use a received / date stamp, that is it. It is left up to our Project Managers to mark their old drawings 'obsolete'.
We manufacture automated equipment: welding, packaging, and assembly (high and low speed). We mostly (80%) supply automotive companies, including DaimlerChrysler. We are both a systems integrator and an original designer. We take machines from concept; through design, build, debug, runoff, install, and service.
Tom is right in his assumption of what we are using the drawings for. We want (need) to be able to show the Customer what we designed the machinery to make. Now that I think about it though, we should probably use the latest rev. of the drawing for final inspection / design validation of the machine.
Our Customer drawings start in the Sales and Applications Department, and then moved on to Engineering. Our machines are designed (and verified) from that print; which is no longer used until we are validating the machine from said drawing. Our machines are manufactured and built by OUR drawings. Only when we start running the machine with parts, do we look at the Customer's drawing again.
Can anyone use this information for any additional input?
Thank you,
Dan