This paper studies the basic motivations behind Engineering Data Management (EDM) in a decade long Large Hadron Collider (LHC) project with at least another decades operational period at CERN. The main argument is that without strict managerial principles to control engineering work the exploitation of EDM becomes impossible. Structured and organized configuration management is the absolute prerequisite for an effective integration of design, manufacturing and installation work. EDM is seen to provide all collaborating parties of the project with a coherent and up-to-date view of the product specifications together with other relevant information, such as products change log, responsibilities and status indicators during the products whole life-cycle. It is argued that by combining simple and commonly accepted managerial principles with an advanced EDM system the outcome supports the main phases of products evolution, i.e. design, assembly, operation and maintenance. The paper outlines the main tasks of the configuration management and the fundamental requirements of EDM in order to meet LHC-projects complexity, stringent budget, high quality and tight schedule constraints set by the CERN Council. Keywords: configuration management, new product development, project management, concurrent engineering, engineering data managemen
