Control and registration of weight measurement results data

[Anton Ovsianko]

Hello, all,

I have been guessing where to post this post... Chose this forum...
It is a practical matter. A medium-sized company manufactures hydro isolation material. Main production process is mixing liquid and dry substances. Critical factors determining end product technical quality during the production itself are:
- duration of the process
- temperature of mixing
- exact proportion of components (measured by weight)

The first two parameters are comparatively easy measured. The results of measurement can be also easily registered where necessary (for example with the use of simple devices, alarm systems etc.).
It is a little bit harder to control the third factor, as it is done manually with the use of electronic scales.
How would you suggest, that control and registration of measurement results should be organized?
Should it be a kind of a journal for self-control or what?

Thank you in advance for you help!

Anton

 

[D.Scott]

Anton - We do material mixing and also record the weights. We maintain lot traceability of the mix components, record the weight of each component and the final mix weight. The resulting mix is given an internal lot number specific to that mix. All this is kept in a "Mix Log". Also included are: date, mixer, and MSDS label codeing.

Dave

 

[Anton Ovsianko]

Thank you, Dave!

It is more or less clear now what you are measuring and recording. How is it organized? Is a Mixer doing it him-self?

In the company I am speaking about they weigh things manually on scales and then put the mixture into the mixing machine with the use of a dosing device. Should the responsible worker write down the results of measurement in a journal himself?
There is a risk that a worker too sure of his skills and attentiveness will write everything down beforehand, as it would improve his productivity. However it is rather a question of motivation, not of the technology...

Thank you once again!!!
Any more comments from someone?

YS Anton

 

[D.Scott]

Our mixing is done in a lab setting by trained mixers. Yes, they record all their own info. The integrity of the mix rests with the integrity of the mixer.

As in all our lab procedures, the employees are trained and evaluated for competence.

The log is just as described - we use a loose leaf binder kept in the lab. Each of our mixes (final resulting product) has its own section in the binder.

As long as you don't have an employee or security problem, I suggest you keep it as simple as possible.

Dave

 

[Marc]

> There is a risk that a worker too sure of his skills and
> attentiveness will write everything down beforehand, as it
> would improve his productivity. However it is rather a
> question of motivation,

If this happens, then the employee should be subject to reprimand (at a very minimum) or dismissal. There is a recent thread here that dealt with this same subject - a manager was involved, however (try a Forums search for 'fraud' and you'll find it). S/he was completing forms prior to the actions. This is nothing less than (in my opinion) Fraud. From a legal stand point, most companies - when you 'sign on' - have some type of clause whereby fraud is grounds for immediate dismissal.

I have worked with some chemical companies in implementation and they handled this in the same way D.Scott describes. If you have a good group of folks, falsifying data (which is what pre-entering data is - and again I use the word Fraud) should not be an issue.

I have seen auditors ask how you know employees are not pre-entering data (or entering the correct data) - either because of the reason you cite (lack of motivation) or because of employee sabotage. Be ready with an answer, but don't go over board.

I was once, probably 20 years ago, working for a company that closed off sections of Interstate 75 and did vibration analysis on the concrete sections to see if the dirt and crushed rock was being erroded from under sections of the concrete. It was a start at 11 PM and finish at 6 AM job. The data was so similar each night I started a 'secret' watch. I found employees were writing in 'normal' values and not even taking the measurements. When brought to task, they explained that the equipment was 'flakey' and they got tired of complaints about how slow things were going. These fellas were given problematic equipment, were not properly trained to begin with and then, to top it off, was badgered by management to 'get the job done faster'. I add this only to point out sometimes management pushes employees to a point where they have little or no choice.