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Mechanical Drawings
1. Product Design Information
2. Develop Solid Model
3. Product Review
4. Prototyping and Testing
5. Mechanical Drawings  Step 5
6. Production Tooling
7. Production Pilot Run
Like the Solid Model, Mechanical Drawings are the cornerstone for controlling production and prototyping of your product.  They are legally binding documents that assure that you get what you pay for.

Mechanical Drawings define the specifications of each component in your product, as well as sub-assemblies and assemblies.  They control the size of each part feature, and they control how parts fit together.  When parts don't fit together or they don't function incorrectly, there may be a problem with the parts or assemblies.  Mechanical Drawings are used to confirm that parts and assemblies are correct or incorrect.

Let's say a manufacturer of one part in your product makes 10,000 parts that are out of spec.  That is, they do not match the specifications in the Mechanical Drawing of the part.  Usually this means that the part will not function correctly in the assembly of your product.  Do you have to buy the parts anyway?

The answer is an astounding no.  When you order parts from a manufacturer you order them using Mechanical Drawings.  If a part does not match the Mechanical Drawing, it is not what you ordered.  The manufacturer's responsibility is to provide you with parts that match the specs in Mechanical Drawings.  So a Mechanical Drawing becomes the legally binding document in your agreement to purchase parts.

This concept extends to any type of purchase you may make for components and assemblies.  For example, when you purchase prototypes, they have to meet the specifications in the Mechanical Drawings.  When you have production tooling fabricated, the tooling has to make parts that meet the specifications in the Mechanical Drawings of the parts.  While the Solid Model is used to create cutting paths to make the tooling, tooling is approved by confirming that the parts it makes conform to the specs in Mechanical Drawings.