How to Manage Procedure Versions and Reviews in a Quality System
A file named “Procedure_v3_FINAL_new.docx” does not tell an employee whether it contains the current rules. Managing procedures, reviews, and versions in one system reduces the need to search file names and emails for answers.
The file ‘Procedure_v3_FINAL_new.docx’ does not help an employee understand whether it reflects the current procedure. When the same procedure is stored on a shared drive, sent by email and copied again to a department folder, its file name becomes the main indication of its version. The quality or document management system specialist must determine which document is valid, who changed it and whether the scheduled review has already been completed.
When a copy of a procedure becomes a separate version
Procedure files are often duplicated not because of complex requirements, but as a result of routine actions. An employee downloads a document, edits a copy and forwards it to a colleague. Another employee saves the received file in a different folder. After several such actions, the organisation ends up with several procedures bearing similar names, but their file names no longer make it clear which one is current.
In this situation, document management depends on personal folders, employees’ memory and email searches. Even after finding the latest file, it is still necessary to determine whether it is an approved version or merely a draft under review. Employees face a practical question: which procedure should they follow today?
Fragmented reviews complicate the quality process
In a quality system, it is not only the content of a procedure that matters. Its status must also be clear: whether the document has been submitted for review, who assessed it, whether the changes have been approved and which version should be used. When the procedure itself is stored in one place, comments are sent by email and the review date is recorded in a separate register, the overall picture has to be reconstructed manually.
Such fragmentation creates a risk that the review will be carried out using the wrong file or that an earlier copy will remain available to employees after approval. It also makes it more difficult to explain why the document was changed and what actions have already been taken. The more procedures and employees reviewing them there are, the more dependencies arise between files, registers and emails.
The current procedure should be identifiable by its status in the system, not by the words ‘FINAL’ or ‘new’ in the file name.
Procedures, reviews and versions in a single process
The PDVS Document Management module covers the management of procedures and their reviews, as well as quality system documents. The Working Documents module complements this process with templates, signing and version control. These capabilities allow a document to be managed as a consistent process rather than as a collection of separate files.
In practice, this helps to link several stages of quality document management:
- Procedures are prepared using templates. A consistent structure can be applied to documents instead of creating a new file from scratch each time.
- Reviews are carried out together with the document. The procedure’s content and its review do not need to be managed in separate locations.
- Changes are distinguished through version control. A new revision is not replaced by an unexplained copy of the file.
- Signing is integrated into the document workflow. Signed documents do not need to be separated from their preparation and version control.
This principle is relevant to both document management and quality management system processes. The document, its status and the actions taken can be viewed in one place, showing who made a decision, when and why. As a result, the quality specialist no longer needs to reconstruct the document’s history from email threads, shared drives and separate Excel registers.
How to assess procedure management in your company
During a demonstration, we can discuss where your procedures are currently stored, how their reviews are organised and how employees identify the current version of a document. We can also assess how the PDVS Document Management and Working Documents modules would accommodate the templates, signing processes and versions of quality documents you use.
Book a PDVS demonstration and let us discuss the management of procedures and quality documents in your company.