Do you use color to identify documents?

Do you color code your documents

  • Yes we use various colors for identification.

    Votes: 11 40.7%
  • We use only one color for all controlled documents.

    Votes: 5 18.5%
  • No, we use only white paper for all documents.

    Votes: 11 40.7%

  • Total voters
    27

SteelMaiden

Super Moderator
Super Moderator
#21
:topic:I don't know about getting pink documents back in a timely fashion.....but back in the day when I was still a lowly lab rat, I painted all my tools pink and I never lost a one. Before then, I pretty much replaced everything on a weekly or monthly basis, or had to go find it in the maintenance dept.:lmao: Nobody wants to caught with a pink band saw.:notme:
 
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Stijloor

Staff member
Super Moderator
#22
:topic:I don't know about getting pink documents back in a timely fashion.....but back in the day when I was still a lowly lab rat, I painted all my tools pink and I never lost a one. Before then, I pretty much replaced everything on a weekly or monthly basis, or had to go find it in the maintenance dept.:lmao: Nobody wants to caught with a pink band saw.:notme:
:topic:

Steel,

More pink stuff...:lol:

Stijloor.
 

Helmut Jilling

Auditor / Consultant
#24
I used to send the copy of the PPAP warrant that I needed signed and returned from the customer in pink. I figured:

A) they could find it in their pile of papers on their desk

B) it was disgusting enough to want to get off their desk.

Believe it or not - it was fairly effective!

I LIKE that! Simple, effective, and a little humorous. Gonna have to remember that.
 
V

Vimal Mahobia

#25
Colour coding is a very powerful tool, and I personally use it wherever possible. As a standard practice (atleast in India) the documents for accounts and stores, have specific coloured copies for customer and individual departments. Similarly, for purchase orders there are four different colours on respective copies. I have adopted the colur coding on documentation for production and quality as well. Going a step ahead, I issue different colur markers to inspectors who sign & put a mark on the components checked by them. This helps in tracing back a non conformity!

Furthermore, I have alloted colour coding for each customer, and these colours are painted on the dies and I am further putting these colour codes on the drawings as well. I am also using Green, Yellow & Red tags for Okay, Rework & Rejection respectively (which I feel is a universal practice)

Overall I feel that colour coding is a very effective tool, used since time immemorial.

Umang :D

The colour coding of documents is very effective, and I too use it wherever possible. It is a good identification tool, and one can easily locate a document in the pile of papers, both at the origin as well at the customer's place. Your extension of this with coloured markers is a good idea for traceability, and I plan to use it.

Vimal :agree1:
 

bobdoering

Stop X-bar/R Madness!!
Trusted Information Resource
#26
Our method is a little different. We use colors to identify specific customers and all job packet documents are printed on that customer specific color.
Some places we used colored job packets for the priority of the job.
 
C

Chris Ford

#27
I am trying to streamline our paperwork and make it easier for the "Non-detail oriented" among us to identify and use our various documents. I have thought of color coding the documents, ie, blue for work instructions, yellow for procedures, etc. Does anyone have experience with using this method, or is it more work than it is worth?

Doug
Any step in a process that requires additional handling is more work than it's worth in my opinion.

I actually worked at a medical device manufacturer years ago that did the same thing. Document Control thought it would save time to eliminate the stamp on documents. So, they used blue paper to identify "controlled master" documents, and green paper to identify "controlled copy" documents.

At the end of the day, it was nothing but a pain in the... dealing with it. Nothing could be printed on those colors except the controlled documents, and the first time they ran out of green paper and couldn't release controlled copies into Manufacturing without an approved Deviation, was probably the first day they started converting back to white paper.

Identify the documents with clear indicators and titles, if your numbering system doesn't make it clear on its own. Then separate the work instructions from the procedures into binders.

I'm assuming you're using a paper system since we're talking about colored paper here. So, you should have controlled copies of procedures and work instructions available at the point of use anyway. It would make sense to place applicable copies of procedures and work instructions into binders at their appropriate locations.

If there's only one location where everyone goes to find procedures, I'd separate them out by document type.
 
C

Chris Ford

#28
Colour coding is a very powerful tool, and I personally use it wherever possible. As a standard practice (atleast in India) the documents for accounts and stores, have specific coloured copies for customer and individual departments. Similarly, for purchase orders there are four different colours on respective copies. I have adopted the colur coding on documentation for production and quality as well. Going a step ahead, I issue different colur markers to inspectors who sign & put a mark on the components checked by them. This helps in tracing back a non conformity!

Furthermore, I have alloted colour coding for each customer, and these colours are painted on the dies and I am further putting these colour codes on the drawings as well. I am also using Green, Yellow & Red tags for Okay, Rework & Rejection respectively (which I feel is a universal practice)

Overall I feel that colour coding is a very effective tool, used since time immemorial.

Umang :D

Holy cow! It sounds like you're going to need the Pantone Color Wheel as your color code key soon!

It sounds more colorful than a bag of Skittles!

I'm not opposed to using color coding in general. I think it's appropriate for status marking and certain identifiers. I've also seen some responses here where others have used colored paper for deviations and the CAPA system. I think those are great too. But, if you introduce too many color codes into the system, you're placing a burden on everyone to understand what it all means. As long as it works for everyone, that's all that matters. It just seems like a lot of work to maintain it all.
 

Helmut Jilling

Auditor / Consultant
#29
Any step in a process that requires additional handling is more work than it's worth in my opinion.

I actually worked at a medical device manufacturer years ago that did the same thing. Document Control thought it would save time to eliminate the stamp on documents. So, they used blue paper to identify "controlled master" documents, and green paper to identify "controlled copy" documents.

At the end of the day, it was nothing but a pain in the... dealing with it. Nothing could be printed on those colors except the controlled documents, and the first time they ran out of green paper and couldn't release controlled copies into Manufacturing without an approved Deviation, was probably the first day they started converting back to white paper.

Identify the documents with clear indicators and titles, if your numbering system doesn't make it clear on its own. Then separate the work instructions from the procedures into binders.

I'm assuming you're using a paper system since we're talking about colored paper here. So, you should have controlled copies of procedures and work instructions available at the point of use anyway. It would make sense to place applicable copies of procedures and work instructions into binders at their appropriate locations.

If there's only one location where everyone goes to find procedures, I'd separate them out by document type.
It sounds like you guys had a great deal of trouble with it. Maybe they overdid it. I did it for years before ISO, and never had any confusion. Just don't overdo it.
 
U

Umang Vidyarthi

#30
Holy cow! It sounds like you're going to need the Pantone Color Wheel as your color code key soon!

It sounds more colorful than a bag of Skittles!

I'm not opposed to using color coding in general. I think it's appropriate for status marking and certain identifiers. I've also seen some responses here where others have used colored paper for deviations and the CAPA system. I think those are great too. But, if you introduce too many color codes into the system, you're placing a burden on everyone to understand what it all means. As long as it works for everyone, that's all that matters. It just seems like a lot of work to maintain it all.
I think my comments touched a raw nerve somewhere! I can understand your feelings, since you had a bad experience with this system, but in turn, it does not makes it a bad system . It is a good tool to be used judiciously. As Helmut has rightly observed 'Do not over do it'.

Umang :D
 
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