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The use of redundant modifiers (i.e. "Assembly") in drawing titles 2

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idgara73612

Mechanical
Dec 18, 2008
3
US
If you have an assembly of multiple components, generally, you throw "Assembly" at the end of the part name... However, if the part name already implies that it is an assembly, do you still have to add "Assembly"?

For example, if I have a "Power Distribution Unit" - it is obviously an assembly, but the word "Unit" already sort of implies that it is an assembly. Do I need to call it "Power Distribution Unit Assembly"? The same argument for "Operator Console" - "Console" already implies assembly. Should it be "Operator Console Assembly"?

Any references to actual standards would be helpful as well.
 
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idgara73612,

I am expressing opinions here, not quoting a standard.

The word "ASSEMBLY" appears on my assembly drawings. As you note, the word "ASSEMBLY" in a part name generally does not communicate something you don't already know. In general, if I am ordering, I look at your BOM, I see your part number, and I pull out your drawing. I find out it is an assembly. I like short part names. The word "ASSEMBLY" is not required.

Generally, I don't like words like "MODULE" and "UNIT" in part names. Something called a "POWER DISTRIBUTION" almost certainly is an assembly that distributes power. If I am not clued in, I will be when I pull out the drawing. Sometimes, the name makes more sense when you add these words. For example, you can have a "FILTER MODULE", which is an assembly that holds a "FILTER". I do need to distinguish between the two.

The people I hate are the ones who show off where the part exists in the system by generating a long name, eg. "NUTATING THINGAMOBOOBER POWER SUPPLY FILTER UNIT PCB BRACKET RETAINER". Nobody write things like this out by hand, and they don't hunt and peck typing it out either. It will get nicknamed, possibly colourfully.

--
JHG
 
MintJulep,

My drawings would be POWER DISTRIBUTION ASSEMBLY, and POWER DISTRIBUTION SCHEMATIC. The next level BOM could call up POWER DISTRIBUTION. I am distinguishing between document titles and part names. If I am looking at a document list, I need to know which one to pull out.

--
JHG
 
My solution is to not get stressed about it. There are far more dangerous things that can be wrong with a drawing.
 
3_pack_4569.JPG


----------------------------------------

The Help for this program was created in Windows Help format, which depends on a feature that isn't included in this version of Windows.
 
ASME Y14.100 section 5 and non mandatory appendix C - Drawing Titles.

Take a look and draw your own conclusion.

Posting guidelines faq731-376 (probably not aimed specifically at you)
What is Engineering anyway: faq1088-1484
 
TheTick said:
My solution is to not get stressed about it. There are far more dangerous things that can be wrong with a drawing.

My stupid example was not stupid enough.

"DOMINION CONSOLIDATED WIDGETS NUTATING THINGAMOBOOBER POWER SUPPLY FILTER UNIT PCB BRACKET RETAINER"

Thus, wasting valuable drawing real estate if there is a BOM on the drawing, and showing everyone working for your fabricator who your customer is. The drawing real estate problem is easily solved by reducing the scale. Who cares about readability?

--
JHG
 
@drawoh: you are absolutely correct.

GIZMO ASSEMBLY, GIZMO ELECTRICAL DIAGRAM, GIZMO HYDRAULIC DIAGRAM, GIZMO INSTALLATION / INTERFACE DRAWING. Not redundant but valuable .

@dgallup: it's funny. But it may also mean that heavy-duty Cat Toys For Dogs are available, or the toy is not intended for children.

On more serious note: Most people here are probably ASME crowd, but ISO 7200:2004 "Technical product documentation - Data fields in title blocks and
document headers" is very clear. Not only it requires separate field in the title block for
"...Document type
The document type field indicates the role of the document with respect to its content of information and
representation format. It is one of the main ways in which searches for documents can be made..."

but this field is also mandatory.

Well, somebody was asking for standard quote, right?

"For every expert there is an equal and opposite expert"
Arthur C. Clarke Profiles of the future

 
 http://files.engineering.com/getfile.aspx?folder=352988b9-7596-431e-aa91-c799f7f40604&file=ISO_7200.JPG
Unfortunately, naming schemes often get defined by those whom common sense seems to be in deficit when writing company standards or programming ERP systems, forcing the rest of us to continue following such asinine naming conventions in perpetuity.
So, drawoh, don't hate the ones creating such gobblydegook, but save it for the ones who authored such conventions.

"Know the rules well, so you can break them effectively."
-Dalai Lama XIV
 
ewh,

Actually, my example above is not much of an exaggeration. This is stuff people do voluntarily. What ERP systems do is impose a maximum length of 22 or 30 characters on the part name, ensuring that the warehouse and engineering have different names for the part. I sent drawings out for quotes once and got back something like the following...

Code:
123-456 NUTATING THINGAMOBOOBER POWER SUP  $105.50
123-457 NUTATING THINGAMOBOOBER POWER SUP   $75.50
123-472 NUTATING THINGAMOBOOBER POWER SUP  $765.00
123-478 NUTATING THINGAMOBOOBER POWER SUP  $211.25
123-491 NUTATING THINGAMOBOOBER POWER SUP  $476.50

--
JHG
 
Supplier recently sent me the pneumatic schematic drawing for a widget.

The drawing title was "Equipment-Widget Equipment Configuration"

How am I ever supposed to find that drawing by title in the future?
 
MintJulep,

PDM systems can have a field for the drawing's functionality. If you are inside the PDM system, you can see this. It saves typing by the drafters. Too bad if you are outside the PDM.

--
JHG
 
I figure that everything is either a bracket or a shim. It either sits on or attaches to something, in which case it is a bracket. Or it sits between two brackets, in which case it's a shim. I mention this because of some dolt who renamed a drawing of mine based on Fed-Std-H6 with something stupid because it was close. It was a fan mounting bracket, but they thought that Fan, Axial was better. Makes sense since the fan the bracket was for was centrifugal. Past that, the endless arguments about what to call something that would be dealt with by p/n.
 
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