Best Practices for Adapting Manufacturing Documentation

This study compiles a set of best practices for adapting documentation, drawing from interviews with professionals in the manufacturing industry and existing research about manufacturing documentation. It explores the common strengths and challenges inherent in industry approaches, as well as the influence of federal regulations on decisions affecting documentation. It also evaluates the potential benefits of using technologies and methodologies to support version control and streamline the ways information flows into, through, and out of organizations. Finally, and most importantly, it examines the human component: the roles of writer vs. engineer, and how they intersect; the importance of better understanding the importance of standards and the reasoning behind them; and how cross-functional teams can better collaborate to improve efficiency and standardization of best practices.