Documentation use and variability

Answer:
Normally, organizations want to reduce variability, they want to provide the same outcome independently of who performs it. We don’t want to go to a restaurant, for example, and like or dislike the same dish according to who is in the kitchen. A plant manager doesn’t want to have products coming out of the production line according to who is working. Organizations want, and customers expect, consistency.

Using the same documentation in an organization promotes internal standardization, internal consistency. Besides using the same documentation, it is important to control that documentation to ensure that it is updated, and it is distributed to those that need it. For example, person A has a Work Instruction about how to package a product. That person goes on holydays and when returns continues to follow the Work Instruction. In the meantime, the Work Instruction was updated, everybody is packaging the products according to the new version , but person A, due to lack of document control, is still using the outdated version and packaging the old way. Now, imagine that packaging instructions were changed due to a new customer requirement. The organization is going to receive a complaint.

The following materials will provide you more information about document control:
- Article - New approach to document and record control in ISO 9001:2015 - https://advisera.com/9001academy/blog/2015/06/30/new-approach-to-document-and-record-control-in-iso-90012015/

- [free course] ISO 9001:2015 Foundations Course - https://advisera.com/training/iso-9001-foundations-course/

- book - Managing ISO Documentation: A Plain English Guide - https://advisera.com/books/managing-iso-documentation-plain-english-guide/