What brought this question to mind was learning that during World War II, many different aircraft companies were manufacturing Boeing bombers. What was involved in trying to produce many copies of hand-drawn plans for all the different parts?
The design team would draw or oversee preparation of original mechanical drawings, which included or referenced separate tables of dimensions and material specifications. Finished master drawings would be done in India ink on translucent linen, or sometimes tracing paper.
The master drawings could then be inexpensively reproduced using the blueprint process. Finished sets of blueprints could then be distributed to the factories, but due to their fragility and tendency to fade, would generally be kept in an office rather than on the workroom floor. Of course, the factory usually had its own drafting and blueprint department, which might make diagrams regarding certain parts to be posted and used by line workers.
The diazo process (blue lines on white paper) began to supplant blueprints during the 1940s, but would not have been widespread during the war years. Similarly, offset printing was not yet widespread, so mimeograph was about the only short-run printing. Since that requires a perforated stencil, it would have been used for typewritten lists, instructions, and schedules—but typically not for mechanical drawings or diagrams.