T
TownDawg
Somewhere along the line somebody got the bright idea that posting "For Reference Only" solves document control problems. I'm not entirely sure how it happened, but I'm assuming folks felt the need to keep obsolete documents "for reference only."
Unfortunately, what I have been seeing with more and more prevalence is a notion that anything on the floor can be "for reference only" and this is somehow all right. The most recent infraction was a gage marked as such. The gage is used to make quality decisions every day, but since the target measurements were adjusted to meet customer requirements, but not documented through the normal engineering change process, the calibration guy felt it in his best interest to mark it as "for reference only."
What's up with this? Has anyone else seen this quality virus?? -- but before you answer that, can we come to some agreement on under what criteria can a document, or a gage, or any other part of the quality management system CAN be marked "for reference only"?
What about forms? When can a form be marked "for reference only?" What about visual aids, or boundary samples. Can they be marked "for reference only?" Let's get some feedback on this so I can finally put this to bed with a somewhat official interpretation of the standard (TS/ISO/QS/VDA -- I don't care).. and what it will allow. I am seeing this practice more and more, and think it's a really bad idea.
Unfortunately, what I have been seeing with more and more prevalence is a notion that anything on the floor can be "for reference only" and this is somehow all right. The most recent infraction was a gage marked as such. The gage is used to make quality decisions every day, but since the target measurements were adjusted to meet customer requirements, but not documented through the normal engineering change process, the calibration guy felt it in his best interest to mark it as "for reference only."
What's up with this? Has anyone else seen this quality virus?? -- but before you answer that, can we come to some agreement on under what criteria can a document, or a gage, or any other part of the quality management system CAN be marked "for reference only"?
What about forms? When can a form be marked "for reference only?" What about visual aids, or boundary samples. Can they be marked "for reference only?" Let's get some feedback on this so I can finally put this to bed with a somewhat official interpretation of the standard (TS/ISO/QS/VDA -- I don't care).. and what it will allow. I am seeing this practice more and more, and think it's a really bad idea.