Autospec: Automated Preparation of Specifications

A problem of almost daily concern and expense in many engineering offices is that of preparing specifications to accompany the design drawings. The AUTOSPEC system is presented to furnish a much closer control to the engineer than is offered by standard specifications, but at a small fraction of the cost of a custom-written document. The engineer works with a guide specification and makes selections, omissions, additions, and corrections to custom-fit his particular job. The computer then assembles these modifications, and cuts stencils on a high speed printer. As all stencils for the complete job can be cut automatically in a matter of minutes, this final operation can be delayed until the design is virtually complete, thus eliminating errors and changes associated with simultaneous preparation of drawings and specifications. Perhaps even more important, the specification writer's time can now be devoted to researching new materials and better construction techniques, rather than to repetitive editorial work.