Production Logs
What logs can look like
In the widget below we have collected examples of how different companies actually use logs
Types of work on the shop floor that are recorded in logs
| Area | Examples of log use |
|---|---|
| Recording actual work volumes | Recording the live count of work completed and products produced. For example, in mining this can be:
For example, in discrete manufacturing this can be:
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| Recording downtime | Downtime happens at every kind of production site, and it is one of the key events to monitor and manage. Beyond simply recording that downtime occurred, the following must also always be captured:
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| Quality control | Quality control is very often done visually or with handheld instruments, and the question of inspection and rejection of defective items is always a pressing issue on the shop floor. In this case, the following information is usually of interest:
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| Recording incoming materials and outgoing shipments | For outgoing shipments, the data captured can include:
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Real cases where poor log keeping led to disaster
BP Texas City, 2005 — 15 killed, 180 injured, $1.5 billion in losses.
One of the most famous and instructive cases. That morning, the entry written in the central control-room logbook was: “ISOM: Brought in some raff to unit, to pack raff with.” The day-shift operator read this to mean that only the tower had been filled — when in fact much more had been. The tower overflowed, hydrocarbons poured out through the relief stack, a vapour cloud formed — and exploded. The Chemical Safety Board investigation stated directly: “The communication in the written logbook was incomplete. Quality shift relief is essential in managing safe and reliable unit operations, especially during abnormal operations.” Half a page of poorly worded handover notes — and a $2.5 billion disaster.
Pharmaceuticals — logs found in bags on the roof.
A relatively recent case from an FDA inspection report. Inspectors found production logs torn up and stuffed in plastic bags on the roof of the plant. Among them were batch records for released drug products that the company had been unable to produce during the inspection. They also found duplicate incomplete logs with the same batch numbers and issue dates as the ones that had been handed to investigators. Executive management admitted that the batch records had been “retrospectively prepared” to be shown to investigators. The product was already on the US market.
An everyday case — a missing record of a parts replacement.
After a fire on a piece of equipment and a production shutdown (with loss of life), the investigator requested the records of the mandatory replacements and repairs of the equipment, along with the accompanying documentation. A thorough search showed that no records existed. The maintenance had been done by an employee who had since left the company, several months before the incident occurred — and why the records are missing, nobody knows. A perfect illustration of how “we lost the paperwork” turns into being unable to prove that the work was ever done properly.
What makes log keeping on the shop floor different
Real, working production sites are not always modern, spotless factories where everyone walks around in a white coat. You cannot put a computer everywhere. And even industrial tablets are not always practical to use in every spot. The reasons can be many:
- Unheated buildings, and winter work in sub-zero temperatures
- Constant walking around the shop floor on inspection rounds
- No connectivity
- Etc.
As a result, people often have to “remember” something, put it off until later, or jot it down in a notebook. This always carries the risk that the information gets distorted.
The voice-entry workflow makes it much easier to keep reliable logs in situations like these.