Chapter 49: Program Documents

OVERVIEW

During program preparation, quite a number of individual pieces of documentation will accumulate. All sketches, calculations, setup sheets, tooling sheets, job descriptions, instructions to the operator and related notes contain valuable information. This information should be stored as part of the program documentation folder. Any changes to the finished program at a later date, for whatever reason, can be done much easier if the documentation is complete, well organized and stored in one place. A good documentation makes a review of the program at a later date much easier. If some-body else has to review a program, the documentation will save much of the valuable time. The way programmers document programs reflects not only their personal programming style, it also becomes a reliable indication of their sense of discipline and organizational capabilities.

A simple definition relating to program documentation can be presented:

Program documentation is a set of all records necessary to retrace the program development

Many CNC programmers, even machine shop supervisors, underestimate the importance of good program documentation. Their main arguments are that any paperwork is not worth the time, that it takes too long to collect all documents and prepare the documentation, that it is essentially a nonproductive effort, etc. These arguments are true, up to a point - in order to make a good documentation, yes, some time will be required. Not an excessive amount of time, but enough time to do a good job. If there are prepared blank forms available, they just need...