First Step Is Done, Design Is Complete

Abstract

You have labored many hours developing your design, and now you are finally done. Whichever computer aided design (CAD) system you used, it has been proven to be a tremendous asset, and you are very proud of your accomplishment. However, now it is time to prepare drawings so that parts can be fabricated, inspected, subcontracted, assembled, tested, or procured. The initial design is a very important part of your effort, but now it is time for the real world and the documentation of your product. This is the most important step in your design. This is what everyone will see, and it is what people will use to evaluate you and your accomplishments by. The drawing is the one item that is visible to everyone. The primary focus is to document your design on drawings with such accuracy that no bad parts will be made and to ensure that there is no ambiguous information. The reality is that every drawing will contain errors; some will be serious and some minor. Even seemingly minor mistakes can cost millions of dollars. Regardless of the type of error, someone will be impacted.