TABLE OF CONTENTS Day 8 through 45 and beyond
Some procedures may already be developed by day 8 and documentation can begin. Document each procedure as it is developed. Documentation is not only important for data accuracy; it is the essence of agreement for all of the facility processes.
In most organizations, predictable repeatable data integrity requires a change in habits. This change must be administered consistently with repeatable procedures if this change is to develop into maintained and sustained change.
No one likes the notion of adding paperwork to any operation or transaction, but as data accuracy and repeatability of process become the target, documentation becomes necessary. Without written agreement, humans tend to remember things differently. This is historically true in everything from land boundary disputes to factory transaction procedures.
If two people in a room agree on a process rule, each leaves the room with an idea of what the agreement was. Each of the players has an experience filter through which they listen to process discussions. Because of these filters, the interpretation of the agreement can and often will vary. Therein lies the need for documentation.
Without documentation, procedures can deviate and evolve in a direction unrelated to the original objectives of the process. The purpose of documentation is to perform the following value-added advantages.
The documentation of processes by itself does little to increase consistency. The combined efforts of auditing and insisting that documentation be correct are the vehicles that...
