Technological Documentation

a set of graphic and textual documents that defines the production process used for the manufacture and repair of items and that contains data for the organization of the manufacturing process.

In machine building, the Uniform System of Technological Documentation (ESTD) has been established by state standards and is part of the Uniform System of Technological Preparation for Production (ESTPP). The ESTD defines the interrelated rules and circumstances pertaining to procedures for developing, formulating, compiling, and circulating technological documents that are produced and used by all machine-building and instrumentation plants. The major function of the ESTD standards is the establishment of unified rules for the formulation and use of technological documentation at all plants; the ESTD also ensures standardization of the terms and documents used in various types of work and permits the exchange of technological documents between plants without the need to formulate documents twice. This ensures completeness of document sets and eliminates duplicate formulation and issuance by different plants.

General-purpose technological documents include route sheets, flow charts, standard equipment charts, production instructions, and data statements for shops, equipment, and materials and are produced for all types of work.

Route sheets are the principal technological documents. They are composed for all stages in the preparation of working documentation, contain a description of the production process for the manufacture or repair of an item during all operations in a definite sequence, and specify equipment, instrumentation, materials, and labor expenditures. Flow charts give a graphic, or schematic, representation of the technology for the manufacture of an item. Data on parts, assembly units, and materials are entered on standard equipment charts. The operational methods or methods for control of a production process, directions for the use of equipment or instruments, and safety measures are specified in production instructions. Shop data statements contain information on the routing of items through the manufacturing plant’s shops. Equipment data statements contain a listing of the accessories and tools necessary for manufacturing an item. Materials data statements are detailed and summary statements of materials expenditure rates.

In addition to general-purpose documents, specialized documents are composed for certain types of operations. They include operational instructions, in which a production process is divided into individual operations, and specialized production charts for such operations as casting, cutting materials, and laying out.