ISO 21600-2019 PDF

Full title and description

ISO 21600:2019 — Technical product documentation (TPD) — General requirements of mechanical product digital manuals. This International Standard defines the composition, principles, preparation process and the set of requirements (general, detailed, publication, application and management) for digital manuals for mechanical products intended to support use, repair and maintenance, while not prescribing any specific software functions or data structures.

Abstract

ISO 21600:2019 specifies the composition, basic principles, preparation process, general requirements, detailed requirements, publication and application requirements, and management requirements of mechanical product digital manuals. It is intended as guidance for preparing digital manuals that provide instructions for use, repair and maintenance and as a reference for production and manufacturing. The standard applies to manuals based on service bills of material and modularized technical information and does not specify function or data structure of any particular software.

General information

• Status: Published (confirmed)
• Publication date: 22 February 2019
• Publisher: International Organization for Standardization (ISO)
• ICS / categories: 01.110 (Technical product documentation)
• Edition / version: Edition 1 (2019)
• Number of pages: 25

Scope

Applies to the preparation of mechanical product digital manuals based on service bills of material and modularized technical information. The standard is intended to guide how digital manuals are composed, structured, published and managed so they can be used for product operation, maintenance and repair. It provides requirements and recommendations for content composition and lifecycle management of digital manuals but does not mandate specific software implementations, file formats or data structures.

Key topics and requirements

• Composition and structure of mechanical product digital manuals (modularized technical information).
• Basic principles and preparation processes for digital manuals.
• General and detailed content requirements for user, maintenance and repair information.
• Requirements for publication, versioning and application of digital manuals.
• Management and lifecycle requirements for maintaining manual accuracy and traceability.
• Use of service bills of material as a basis for manual content and organization.
• Guidance-level approach — the standard does not prescribe specific software functions or data schemas.

Typical use and users

Used by manufacturers, OEMs and suppliers of mechanical equipment when creating digital product documentation. Typical users include technical authors, documentation managers, service and after-sales teams, maintenance engineers, spare-parts managers, product data/PLM/PDM teams and organisations responsible for publishing or integrating digital manuals into service systems and maintenance workflows.

Related standards

Standards that are commonly referenced alongside ISO 21600 include other technical product documentation and digital definition standards such as ISO 16792 (digital product definition data practices), vocabulary and document-definition standards (for example ISO 10209), and document/information classification standards (for example IEC/ISO document classification guidance). ISO 21600 was developed under ISO/TC 10 (Technical product documentation) and specifically by subcommittee ISO/TC 10/SC 6.

Keywords

technical product documentation, TPD, digital manual, mechanical product, service bill of material, modularized technical information, maintenance manual, repair instructions, digital documentation, PLM integration, documentation management

FAQ

Q: What is this standard?

A: ISO 21600:2019 is an International Standard that defines general requirements and guidance for preparing mechanical product digital manuals used for operation, maintenance and repair.

Q: What does it cover?

A: It covers composition, principles, preparation process, general and detailed requirements, publication and application requirements, and management requirements for mechanical product digital manuals. It applies to manuals organized from service bills of material and modularized technical information but does not specify particular software or data structures.

Q: Who typically uses it?

A: Manufacturers, OEMs, technical writers, documentation and service managers, maintenance engineers, spare-parts teams and PLM/PDM integrators who produce or consume digital product manuals.

Q: Is it current or superseded?

A: ISO 21600:2019 is the first edition (published February 2019) and was reviewed and confirmed as current during ISO’s systematic review process (confirmed in 2024). As of that confirmation it remains the current International Standard.

Q: Is it part of a series?

A: ISO 21600 belongs to the broader body of ISO Technical Product Documentation (TPD) standards and is frequently used together with related TPD and digital-definition standards (for example ISO 16792 and vocabulary/definition documents). It was developed within ISO/TC 10, which maintains multiple related standards for product documentation and definition.

Q: What are the key keywords?

A: Technical product documentation, digital manual, maintenance manual, service bill of material, modularized technical information, PLM, documentation management.