ISO 21600:2019

Overview

ISO 21600:2019 - Technical product documentation (TPD): General requirements of mechanical product digital manuals - defines how to prepare, publish and manage digital manuals for mechanical products. The standard covers composition, basic principles, preparation processes, general and detailed requirements, publication/application rules and lifecycle management for digital manuals. ISO 21600:2019 applies to manuals based on service bills of material (SBOM) and modularized technical information and explicitly does not prescribe software functions or data structures.

Key topics and requirements

• Composition of digital manuals
  • Parts manuals (models/pictures, parts lists, material/tool lists)
  • Operation, repair and maintenance manuals
  • Safety manuals (warnings, labels, levels)
• Basic principles
  • Consistency with actual product state
  • Clear, maintainable expression and presentation
  • Security and ease of maintenance
• Preparation process
  • Relationship and transformation of data (EBOM → SBOM)
  • Preparation of SBOM, data elements (DE), data modules (DM), and templates
  • Guidelines for models, text, images, audio and video within modules
• General and detailed requirements
  • Compiling, data, content and presentation rules
  • Specific SBOM, DE, DE model/text/picture/audio/video rules
  • Template requirements for online and printed outputs
• Release, application and lifecycle management
  • Release and versioning practices
  • Application requirements covering sales, training, service and browsing
  • Data management, maintenance and lifecycle controls

Practical applications and users

ISO 21600:2019 is practical for organizations creating structured digital manuals used in product use, repair and maintenance, and in production support. Typical users include:

• Technical writers and documentation engineers preparing modularized digital content
• After-sales/service teams using SBOM-based manuals for maintenance and parts replacement
• Manufacturing, PDM, ERP and MES teams integrating service information with production and service workflows
• Product designers and configuration managers ensuring documentation aligns with product configuration
• Training and support teams delivering online or printable manuals, multimedia instructions and safety information

Benefits include improved consistency between documentation and product, streamlined maintenance of manuals, and standardized modular content for reuse.

Related standards

ISO 21600:2019 references and complements:

• ISO 16792:2015 (digital product definition data practices)
• ISO 17599:2015 (digital mock-up requirements for mechanical products)
• IEC 82079-1:2012 (instructions for use - structuring, content and presentation)

For implementation, consult the full ISO 21600:2019 text and your national standards body for licensing and guidance.