Document control is of paramount importance in an engineering setting. This applies particularly to departments that need to store documents related to the methods involved in their procedures. From the department that needs to have a procedure in place for new hires, to the manufacturing end-process, it is necessary to have a means of controlling the creation, revision, quality and update of these documents. Some basic premises have to be followed. First, documents are originated by an issuing department. They are used chiefly by that department, and other departments may have some input into the process. But the overall control should be taken by the issuing department. Next, a set of documents should be created by a team of writers. The documents must be reviewed, and thus a team of reviewers must be set up who have the authority to review and have the subject-knowledge to make corrections and finally approve each stage. Of course, a department should be able to quickly identify a specific SOP for a specific procedure. It must be easy to locate and it must be securely stored and unable to be edited except in a formalized document control process. All updates must be clearly recorded in the appropriate location and it should be clear who made the change, the reason for it and the date and time it was done. At any time, an update may be needed to the document. If this is the case, effective document control will capture any amendments, the reasons for doing so (for example, a firmware update) and the person who made the changes. Finally, all documents should be subject to quality control; this will be an additional step designed to keep the bar up so that the standard of documents never falls below a certain prescribed level.
