The control plan
Last updated 6 August 2026
The Control Plan tab is the plan as an operator sees it: one sheet per operation, showing only the characteristics inspected at that station, with the limits that station has to hold.
Moving through the routing
A strip of operation tabs runs across the top, lowest step first, with a button at the end to add one. The header under it names the operation and its type, and for a dimensional operation it prints the effect as a thickness per side, marked as half buildup where that applies, so an operator can see what the station is supposed to add or take off.
The table
| Column | Notes |
|---|---|
| Label | The balloon number, matching the marked-up print. |
| Requirement | Rendered for the kind: limits with a unit, a thread spec with its gauge bracket, a feature control frame, a basic or reference dimension, a roughness maximum, or note text. |
| Method | Inherited from the characteristic unless overridden here. |
| Class | Critical rows carry a red bar. |
| Frequency | Inherited unless overridden here. |
| Notes | Inherited unless overridden here. |
| Inspected at | The other stations that check this characteristic. |
On a station that is not the final inspection, a dimension also carries a line saying what the operation does to it, for example grows on both sides.
Per-operation overrides
Method, frequency and notes are inherited from the characteristic, and inherited values are drawn muted. Click one and type to override it at this station only: an in-process check on a mill can be a different gauge and a different frequency from the final inspection of the same feature.
An overridden cell carries an OVR badge and a revert control. Emptying the cell puts it back to the inherited value rather than leaving it blank.
Printing
- Choose the operation, then press Print. The preview also lets you switch between the control plan and the marked-up drawing.
- Sheets are Letter landscape, 11 by 8.5 inches.
- Each sheet carries the part number, revision, operation and description, the characteristics inspected there, and five blank rows for handwritten results.
- Sheets are numbered page N of M.
- Choose Save as PDF in the print dialog to file a copy in your QMS.
Locking
A plan is either a draft or locked. Lock and Save makes it read-only and writes the file in the same action, so what is on disk is the locked state. The Power Editor disappears while a plan is locked and the control plan refuses edits; unlocking is one click and needs no password, because the authority over a released plan is your QMS rather than a checkbox here.