The engineer responsible for each module or subsystem that has been specially designed for this project needs to submit a set of drawings sufficiently complete to allow that hardware to be re-constructed. Drawing numbers are centrally maintained and assigned. At present the master list is on paper in a looseleaf notebook in the project office, but it will soon be made into a computer file with very limited write permission but wide read permission. A master drawing archive will be maintained on the Unix file server in Green Bank, with files stored in the native format of the program used to generate them. The drawing files will have wide read permission but limited write permission.
Every item making up the entire station is assigned a part number.
These include any item ordered from an outside vendor and any item fabricated at NRAO from general purpose, basic materials that are normally kept in stock. 4.2 Assemblies that are made up of elementary parts or of lower-level assemblies. All of these are considered to be manufactured by NRAO, even if they are just assembled from purchased parts. The one top-level assembly that is the entire Earth Station. Except for the last item, each part has an assembly to which it belongs.