Linking Project Documentation

[tulum]

I am having problems with data storage/organization. We have electrical and mechanical engineering along with all of the associated costing/estimating, purchasing, and sales departments.

I want to be able to pull up an old job and when I pick it all the neccessary files are linked. I.e. drawings, estimate, schedule, BOM, etc. Right now I have to get the file and then start digging!

Are there any good software packages that can do something like this? What are you guys doing?

Regards,
TULUM

 

[GregLocock]

The best system I have ever used was called DDS - design documentation system. I think it was developed by the British Ministry of Defence.

Essentially it broke the project up into a structure similar to a WBS and then formalised the layout of each section, into parts lists, drawings, calculations, test results and so on. Obviously one crucial page was the list of associated files. All of these things were kept in three duplicated A3 binders, so our entire project, say 50 man years of work, was in one binder. A3 was a great choice, we could just stick two A4 pages in on each page, or put a decent drawing in. Each page has a title block and is version controlled, just like a drawing.

http://www.asri.org.au/ASRI/research/ausroc/A2/a2_dds.pdf

for an example.

here's their conclusion, I don't really agree, being able to find your way through someone else's part of the project pays off immediately

"2.8 Conclusion
The requirements for adhering to the DDS increase the initial workload of the people
involved. However, in the long run, the overall workload should be reduced due to
the ease with information can be communicated throughout the project. This system
provides an up to date reference for the entire program which is readily available to
all involved."






Cheers

Greg Locock

 

[JAE]

Check out Deltek:

http://www.deltek.com/default.asp