What Should Be Included in a Manufacturing Drawing Package?

5 min read

Written by Guntis Endziņš — Mechanical Engineer & Founder, Guenzo Engineering

A manufacturing drawing package is what a supplier needs to quote and produce your design with no back-and-forth. It is more than just drawings.

1. Per-part drawings (PDF)

One PDF per part with every dimension the supplier must control. Include material, finish, weight, GD&T where it matters, and a title block with part number, revision and units.

2. Assembly drawings (PDF)

One per assembly: exploded view, item balloons, BOM table. Show fasteners, torque (if specified) and post-assembly finishes.

3. Bill of Materials (BOM)

Item number, part number, description, quantity, material, supplier (if specified), purchased vs. manufactured. Export both PDF and CSV — your supplier's MRP system loves CSV.

4. Neutral exports

STEP for every part and assembly. DXF for every sheet metal flat pattern. Parasolid or IGES on request.

5. Native CAD files

Include SolidWorks (or your CAD system) sources alongside neutrals — useful for supplier verification or design handover.

6. Release note

One page: what is in this release, what changed since the last revision, open issues, approver. Saves a week of "which version are we quoting?" emails.

7. Optional but useful

• Assembly instructions if non-obvious
• Inspection or test plan
• Photos of a prototype
• Quality requirements (incoming inspection, first article)

Folder structure that works

release/
  drawings/        (PDF)
  step/            (STEP per part)
  dxf/             (sheet metal flat patterns)
  bom/             (PDF + CSV)
  native/          (SolidWorks)
  release-notes.pdf

This structure scales from a single bracket to a 200-part machine.

Common mistakes

• Shipping STEP without drawings.
• BOM that does not match the assembly tree.
• Old revisions left in the release folder, confusing the supplier.