Reference Linking: You Need the Information — So Where is it?
The situation is familiar to anyone using procedures or standards that rely on other standards or specifications. The procedure says
“Complete this step per the requirements of standard SDO 1234.”
While this is one way to assure compliance with the standard, it doesn’t help much when actually trying to complete the step.
The problems that come up are that you need to
- actually locate a copy of the standard
- verify that you have the right version of the standard
- find the right portion of the standard that is applicable to the procedure and step you are trying to execute or interface with
A second compliance approach is to include the information from the standard in the procedure. Of course, this raises questions.
- How do you manage version control?
- What are you trying to achieve -- compliance with a specific version of the standard or compliance with the current version of the standard?
- How should project staff be trained?
- Are there quality or procurement issues?
A third approach for compliance with the standard is to link directly to the reference from the procedure. It would work like this:
You would bring the procedure you are working with up on your computer. When you reach the step, click on the phrase “SDO 1234.” Another window pops up containing the text of the standard being referenced. This text is from the right version of the standard and gives you access to everything in the standard.
Now, complying with the procedure and the standard is not only easy, but the areas of uncertainty – where in the standard and which version of the standard – are eliminated.
Implementing a point of need based knowledge management system like this addresses multiple areas of concern and provides multiple benefits.
Revision management of both the procedure and the reference is accomplished with linking to the reference at point of need. The potential for errors introduced during procedure version by incorporating the wrong information from the standard is eliminated. At the same time, concerns raised by quality assurance auditors or other inspectors regarding version and accessing the correct information are addressed.
Reference linking at point of need achieves consistency across operational units no matter where they are located geographically or within the company. It is easy to show that the right version of the standard is being used and that everyone has access to the same version.
Reference linking assures that personnel from all organizations and phases of the project use the same nomenclature since the correct information is directly linked to the project document. Use of consistent nomenclature minimizes the potential for errors and re-work associated with use of incorrect materials, improper installation, or inadequate quality documentation.
Use of an information management system that keeps your standards off-site and accessible over the Internet provides mitigation in emergency recovery situations. With your standards located off-site, you can still access required regulations or specifications and use that information to develop your emergency response and recovery plans. Whether you are responding to a natural disaster such as a hurricane or to corruption of your intranet, you can continue to work under required standards. This is particularly important if you provide services that require standards use at a customer’s location or if you use standards regularly for facility management and operation.
Projects save money if the engineers and other technical staff don’t each have to have their own copies of the project standards. Using linking at the point of need eliminates the need for multiple copies of standards to be purchased while still assuring copyright and use restrictions are met.
With reference linking at the point of need, there is no lag time between needing information and being able to access it. Engineers don’t have to wait hours or days or weeks to be able to make decisions or move to the next step of a project. This assures that critical information is available when needed to maintain schedules and eliminate the need to take action without the correct information available if there is a safety concern.
Standards and procedure compliance increases if the use of the standard is easy and fast. Controlling the standard used and the version of the standard while making the information readily available also minimizes the potential for not complying with requirements. When the specifics of a standard as well as the balance of a standard document are available by clicking on a link in a procedure or other project document, the likelihood that work will occur without verifying compliance with the standard is significantly reduced.
IHS offers customers with Specs & Standards subscriptions the ability to link from project documents directly to historical or current versions of the standards in their subscription. Through the Reference Linking service, customers increase standards compliance, maximize the value of their standards subscriptions by increasing use, and benefit from the ability to easily demonstrate and verify standards compliance.
To find out more about Reference Linking from IHS or to request a quote, visit Reference Linking or call an IHS sales representative at 1-888-752-0334 or for calls outside the U.S./Canada call 303-397-2892.