I'm with Jennifer. Folks are responsible for consulting their documents at the time of use, thus changes are effective immediately upon publication. I think that a lengthy delay would do away with the continuous part of improvement.
Oh, c'mon...
"Folks are responsible for consulting their documents at the time of use..."
Does that really work? And if it does work, it would consume a lot of time if everyone consults all their docs, everytime they want to do something. That is not a very effective approach.
But, don't get irritated with me, I think I agree with your premise, just not the method.
We make approvals and the whole doc control thing too complicated. First, most changes are pretty small, non-substantive changes. There is no need to hold things up and do formal "training" just because a form number changes. For simple changes, let the doc owner approve the change and someone post it wherever appropriate. Put a post-it note on it to identify the change, or highlight it.
For more significant changes, evaluate what is needed. Sometimes, training or new tooling is needed. In thoses cases, you want to hold up the doc until everythiing is in place. TS-16949 actually requires you to make a record of the implementation date. In other cases, the impact on the operator is the same, and just informing them is enough. Limit the sign-off approvals needed to those who are impacted. Other managers can simply be informed of the change. Reduces costs and time of the change process.
Basic points:
Don't overcomplicate the process.
Don't make 10 people sign off every basic change if it is not an issue.
Do decide what is appropriate and needed for more substantive changes - is training needed, what approvals are needed, etc.
