Revision control is how a company identifies and tracks each version of a controlled document or drawing. Every approved change gets a new revision level, such as a letter or a number, and a record of what changed, why, who approved it and when it takes effect. Only one revision is current at a time; earlier ones are kept for history but marked as superseded. Revision control is part of document control, and product changes usually reach it through an engineering change notice.
Example: A bracket drawing goes from revision B to revision C because a hole changes from 5.5 mm to 6.0 mm. The revision block on the drawing records the change, the ECN number and the approval date, and parts made from that date are inspected to revision C.
Parts, inspection records and work instructions all have to point at the same revision. When revision control is loose, a machinist can cut to revision B while inspection checks to revision C, and the mismatch is found only after the parts are made.
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