Marc said:
This is an old one, but why not...
Basically what you do is look at the situation and ask yourself - Do these people need written work instructions to do their job? If so, why? If not, why not? For example, repetitive simple one or two action jobs may not. But then again, maybe there's a critical way to do something or a critical orientation or a known un-mistake proofed failure mode - then you may want a reference drawing.
I generally look to internal and external nonconformance information, along with liability aspects (i.e. criticality) as well as internal scrap information to assess a process for the need for a work instruction. QS-9000 sorta made this an issue where you had to be ready, sometimes, to debate an auditor as to whether a work instruction was necessary at a specific station. QS-9000 said something along the lines of work instructions having to be 'available' or some such words - I forget now what section it was in. Thing is, common sense tells us not every job requires a work instruction yet something as simple as taking a telephone message (yes - outside manufacturing) is, in some companies, formalized with a work instruction for whatever reason (maybe a 911 operator?). In other companies they would laugh at you if you said you expected them to have a formal work instruction for taking telephone messages.
Other opinions or comments?
In my opinion, a well-organized business has two kinds of documents:
- Plans for activities
- Records the activities were performed (and the results, if any)
Consider the Work Instructions in the same manner as Rules for Golf.
(It seems pretty simple - hit a ball with a stick until it goes in a cup. It is a little more complicated than that. See (broken link removed) and especially (broken link removed))
The point is millions of folks play golf and don't know all the rules and for them it doesn't make much difference. If you are a professional like Tiger Woods or Greg Norman, you know most of the rules, but you can still make a mistake and get a penalty. If a duffer like me gets caught in an error by someone in his foursome, it might cost me two or three dollars or a round of drinks at the 19th hole. If Tiger errs, it could cost him a million dollars.
So when you have a business, you ask yourself:
"How important is it that my workers know and follow the Work Instruction precisely when performing an activity?" If it's pretty important, you might post the Work Instruction at the activity site.
(Think of pilot checklist.) If it is something an experienced worker has no trouble remembering and performing, the Work Instruction may be used for first-time training and kept in a folder somewhere the rest of the time.
There is a reason to have the written plan (Work Instruction) for every business activity, but not an overwhelming reason to post EVERY Work Instruction at EVERY Work Station.
Note, too, that the complexity of the Work Instruction varies with the complexity of the job. A receptionist at a small company may know every other employee and be able to take casual phone messages for them on a simple stationery store form. Her written work instruction might say "Write messages on the pink note pad and give them to employee when he walks in." The example of a 911
(Emergency number in most of USA) operator is a good example of a similar task (answering phones) which may be more complicated and the operator may need a list of whom to alert in certain circumstances (HAZ MAT, child welfare, FBI, State Police, Fire Department, Ambulance, Poison Control, Animal Control, etc.)
ISO9k2k says in effect: The QMS should accommodate the business of the organization. Obviously, that goes for the extent, complexity, and display of Work Instructions.
One final thing, do not confuse general Work Instructions with a product design or specifications which should be available for reference at the work station.
(A blueprint may call for a hole - it doesn't say how to set up the drill or punch.)
( they were not included with the food product) from one generation to the next. However in the last 50 years or so, a lot of ready prepared foods ( with cooking instructions included to the product) were introduced that have to this day proved to be beneficial in more ways then one, when it comes to the life styles that we live now a days.
have broken the chain of communication and not passed the traditional recipes accurately or non-at all. As a result an extensive amount 
