Item: Document

Product documents show the physical attributes and structure of a product, and give the standards for examining whether the product is correctly made. The purpose of product documentation is to break complex assemblies into individual parts, each of which can be specified, examined and managed separately.

ISO 9004 takes a broad view of product documentation, and requires that "sufficient documentation be available to follow the achievement of the required product quality and the effective operation of the quality management system."

Document elements are

  • Document and iteration data, including administrator-specified custom properties
  • Document classifications, such as type, lifecycle phase, legal limitations, etc.
  • Controlling organizations, access right declarations, and media type or physical storage location

A document record is often used for managing one or more electronic file attachments. Such a document record can then be referenced by several part records. Separating the design file from the part allows simple design re-use and may reduce the number of items that must be changed when the design file is updated.

Related topics

1104