The global automotive industry is increasingly dependent on electronic product data to design and produce vehicles. Because of that dependency, problems with the quality of product data have led to problems in developing and producing products. When its member organisations recognised the problem, the Strategic Automotive product data Standards Industry Group (SASIG) decided the most effective approach would be to produce ISO/PAS 26183:2006 as a common set of guidelines on the aspects of product data quality.

For the purposes of ISO/PAS 26183:2006, the term product data is defined as any and all product data required from product conception to manufacturing. Therefore, product data includes not just Computer-Aided Design (CAD) data but also Computer-Aided Manufacturing (CAM) data, Computer-Aided Engineering (CAE) data, product data management (PDM) data, and other kinds of data.

ISO/PAS 26183:2006 defines product data quality as a measure of the accuracy and appropriateness of product data, combined with the timeliness with which those data are provided to all the people who need them.

ISO/PAS 26183:2006 provides a broad range of information, divided into the following three main sections.

• Section I, Introduction and Background, provides introductory and background material that frames the product data quality problem. Topics covered include the nature of product data, high-level product data quality issues, and how to use this document.
• Section II, PDQ Criteria, contains specific product data quality criteria for users. In this version, the content focuses primarily on CAD geometry, though other topics are also at least partially addressed. The criteria describe specific problems that can occur and suggest how to measure them and what to do when they occur.
• Section III, Improving PDQ, provides information and methods that will help improve product data quality. The topics covered range from readiness for change to reward systems to supporting technologies such as tools for checking data.

In addition, a series of attachments provide additional detailed information, including:

• Attachment A -- Glossary;
• Attachment B -- Mapping between element types;
• Attachment C -- Recommended values;
• Attachment D -- Formsheet;
• Attachment E -- SASIG-ODETTE cross reference;
• Attachment F -- Business case;
• Attachment G -- Revision request;
• Attachment H -- XML Schema for quality stamp;
• Attachment I -- XML File Example.