In today's world of instrumentation, the key component for a successful project, a successful maintenance organization, the ability to comply with ISO-9000 guidelines, GMP guidelines, or OSHA 119 requirements, is adequate and up to date documentation for the instrumentation that is currently installed, to be installed, to be maintained, or to be changed, modified, or even just recalibrated. Unfortunately, we seem to forget this when the pressure to complete a project or bring a new process online. Without a concerted effort to increase the quality and everyday currency of our documentation, we will find our plants falling into a deep crevice of ups and downs in productivity. In the current state of computerization of instrumentation functions, the ability to supply complete and accurate documentation is one of the simplest tasks to comply with. From CAD/CAM to instrument databases, computers are being used for more functions than ever before. Even some vendors are supplying self documenting control systems that reduce or even eliminate the problem of updating drawings, at least you're led to believe that they will. Unfortunately we forget that a human must initiate, direct, or control these automation tools to provide the most current and uptodate documentation. The computer will not update a P&ID or loop sheet by itself when a change is implemented, a human must provide the input and changes, the computer is a tool to be used. Vendors, Engineers, System Integrators, and End-Users are never in agreement as to what documentation is absolutely required and what is extra and extra always costs more. The lack of an industry standard for what defines the minimum required set of documentation required tends to create confusion for all those that deal with the situation. In the real world this means that on some projects loop sheets are supplied and on some they are not. When a vendor supplies a PLC with a skid mounted subsystem the normal set of documentation is usually a printout of the ladder logic program, a wiring diagram and a flow sheet. This leaves the end-user or the engineer the task of attempting to document the system during design or working without proper documentation during start-up.
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