Know When the Customer's Drawing Has Changed
Every revision of a customer's drawing kept against the part it belongs to, with your own manufacturing drawing beside it. When the customer sends a new revision and your drawing was made from an older one, the part is flagged as out of date everywhere it appears, until someone has looked at the new revision and decided.
Switched on for your company on request. Contact us to use it
How to use it
Add the customer's drawing to the part with its revision. Make your own drawing from it, or upload one, and it records which customer revision it came from. When a new revision arrives, add it. If it changes something you make, make your drawing again from the new revision. If it does not, record that it was reviewed and does not affect production. Either way the flag clears, and the next revision raises it again.
An example: one part, six events
The life of an illustrative part, with what every screen shows after each event. Each line is worked out by the same rule MechCircle applies to a real part.
Example: one part's drawing revisions, and what the flag says after each
| Date | What happened | What every screen shows for the part |
|---|---|---|
| 26/Mar/2026 | Customer drawing rev A received and added to the part | No flag: no manufacturing drawing yet, so nothing can be out of date |
| 31/Mar/2026 | Our manufacturing drawing made from rev A | Up to date: our drawing is from rev A |
| 14/Jul/2026 | Customer sends rev B (a note changed) | OUT OF DATE: the customer is on rev B, our drawing is from rev A |
| 16/Jul/2026 | Engineer reviews rev B: does not affect production | No flag: rev B reviewed and recorded as not affecting production |
| 22/Sep/2026 | Customer sends rev C (a diameter changed) | OUT OF DATE: the customer is on rev C, our drawing is from rev A |
| 24/Sep/2026 | Our drawing made from rev C | Up to date: our drawing is from rev C |
Each line is the result of the same rule the product applies on the Parts list, the part's own page, its documents and search. Revisions are compared as written (A, R1, 00), never guessed into an order: the newest is the one added most recently.
What each column means
- What happened
- A drawing added, a drawing made, or a review recorded.
- What every screen shows
- The part's flag on the Parts list, on its own page, on the documents that name it and in search: up to date, out of date, or the reason there is no flag.
What travels with each revision
A revision keeps its file and, once the drawing has been read, its part details and its numbered list of dimensions, with balloons placed on the drawing. Your drawing for that revision can be made from the numbered drawing, with the customer's name, logo and references replaced by yours. Inspection formats name the revision they were built from, so a new revision flags them too. An older revision is marked superseded by a person, never by the system, and stays on file.
What an auditor looks for (ISO 9001:2015, clauses 7.5.3 and 8.5.6)
- Documents from customers are identified and controlled.
- The current revision is the one in use, and obsolete revisions cannot be used by mistake.
- A change to a drawing is reviewed before production carries on, and the review is recorded.
- Who decided, and when, can be found later.
How it helps
- A new revision cannot slip into the file unnoticed while the shop works to the old one
- “Reviewed, does not affect production” is a recorded answer, not an email somebody remembers
- Every earlier revision stays on file, with what was decided about it
- The same flag reaches the documents and inspection formats that depend on the part
What it does and does not cover
- It does not fetch drawings from a customer's portal or email. A new revision is added by a person.
- Revisions are compared as written. The newest is the one added most recently; A, R1 and 00 are never put in order by guessing.
- There is no approval workflow or electronic signature. The review records who and when.
- DWG, DXF and STEP files can be kept with a revision, but only PDFs and images are shown on screen.
- Reading a drawing's details and dimensions with AI is a separate feature and uses AI.
Good to know
Can a customer's drawing be shared by mistake?
A customer's drawing is marked restricted when it is added, and MechCircle's sharing does not reach it. What goes to a supplier is your own drawing, made from it with the customer's details replaced.
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