Rev code systems?

Hi all,

I have clients who work solely off of printed drawing in the form of
PDF files. The drawings are always multiple pages - sometimes 15 to 30
pages long.

I have a rev table on the first page and reference the current rev in
all subsequent pages.

The problem is: my client is never sure whether or not they have the
latest rev or not. They always do - because I obviously always send
the latest rev whenever there is an update - but they have no
confidence. Consequently, they always call and ask me to resend the
latest revision, even if it is the same as the last one.

I'm wondering how others deal with this?

Thanks,

Zander

 

On your drawing, include a Revision Table showing the previous revisions,
their descriptions and their dates.

Best Regards,
Devon T. Sowell
www.3-ddesignsolutions.com

 

I doubt if many others deal with such as that. You're following a Mil
Standard convention there with the revision table, and that should work
well, but it's not often used outside of military contractor circles.
If each sheet reflects the revision that is shown in the table then they
(theoretically) shouldn't have any trouble with simply matching the
revision table on the first sheet to the pages that they have. So just
send them the table and the pages that changed as of the last revision
(if you have separate PDF documents for each sheet). It sounds like the
problem is with their limited understanding of the system. So, why
don't you write down the system as simply and clearly as possible, and
then indicate to them that requests for additional copies will be
charged out at the going rate, including every minute it takes to
transfer the files electronically?

I feel for ya. Stupid clients aren't often a problem to me (much more
often dishonest ones), but sometimes . . .

Best regards,
'Sporky'

 

Oh, I missed that part, you do have a Revision Table, but your client still
can't keep track of revisions?

Best Regards,
Devon T. Sowell
www.3-ddesignsolutions.com

 

Devon,

OK,,,, it's beginning to sound like they "lose" the drawings, or they're
just plain dumb. Either way, charge em !!!

Regards

Mark

 

You don't need worry about creating PDF's and checking out for
revisons...

You will have all revisions managed by SolidReflection
www.proxicad.com


# asy to setup and configure
# Create a real time image of all SolidWorks file activity
# Automatically monitor all folders containing SolidWorks files
# Maintain BOM information in real time
# Batch print drawings from any BOM
# Maintain item master details in real time
# Maintain where used information on all parts and assemblies
# Identify orphaned parts in real time
# Extract custom field details in item master
# Select from several Metric or English unit systems options
# Extract sheet metal details in item master (flat length, width,
thickness, etc.)
# Publish PDF drawings in real time
# Publish eDrawings in real time
# Create DXF flat geometry for sheet metal parts
# Archive PDF, eDrawings and DXF flat files
# Export BOMs, item details and other lists to Excel, HTML or XML files
# All information maintained in Access database tables

 

Zander,

I have a similar situation here building molds for our customers. Typically
when we complete a mold, we like to burn all of the CAD files to a CD and
deliver it with the mold, with all of the drawings at Rev1 (released
status). Sometimes this "slips through the cracks" and doesn't get done.
And, it is fairly common that a mold will return to us for some "tweaking",
an engineering change, or repair due to damage. A lot of time this
requires some minor design changes which changes the revisions of several of
the drawings.

So, how does the customer know what revision the tooling drawings are, at
any given time? They could call us any time they needed to know (which is a
hassle), or they could look it up themselves. I have setup an ftp site with
different folders for each of our customers. Each of our customers have a
login/password that gives them access and visibility to THEIR folder only.
Under each of the customers there are subfolders for any of the molds that
we have built for them.

I use Ipswitch WS_FTP Pro software to automatically update the entire ftp
site every night with the latest PDF files for all drawings. When we make a
new revision to a drawing, all we have to do is remember to create a new PDF
and it will be posted on the ftp site that night for customer access. This
could be done with the CAD files themselves, but as you know CAD files can
get quite large.

This does take a bit of planning and time to setup. But we charge them a
nominal amount each month to "host" their drawings for them. This is
obviously optional. But it does make it worth the time.

Hope this helps...

P.S. We originally set this up this way because we have this one customer
that will be building many manufacturing/assembly lines around the world
consisting of our tooling design. Unfortunately, we will not be able to
build all of the tooling for every location due to politics. So they wanted
other locations around the world to have access to the latest drawings 24
hours a day for obvious reasons. If we had left it up to our customer to
supply the different locations with the latest drawings, we would have lost
"control" of our design. Any changes that we wanted to make would have been
forbidden without first getting an engineering change request approved from
them. This sometimes takes weeks with a company this size. With us
controlling the drawings via ftp, we remain in control of the design. This
is a very large project with roughly 800 tooling drawings that I have
created and control.

 

Hi Sporky,

Yes, my 'title page' always includes a revision table, changes are
usually too numerous to mention but it serves to show the rev code and
the date.

Their business moves fast and even if the drawing says eg. REV F and is
dated yesterday, they will still call me and say "I think I have the
latest revision but I just wanted to be sure".

In a way it's understandable, they want to be sure I'm not in the
middle of some ECN or something, while they sent out drawings for
quotation or actually order parts.

It's like the drawing needs an active real time blinking light that is
green for go, red for stop, yellow for slow down.

hmm... maybe a pdf can have a 'live' html link to show status.

Zander

 

On that thought, we use Conisio as our PDM, and that way anyone can know
very quickly whether or not they have the latest version. You might look
into it.

WT