Document Control, Training & Audits

Document Control, Training & Audits (CSSGB BoK VI.B.2–4)

Quick Answer: After improvements, document control keeps only approved current standards in use; training plans build competence on new methods and reaction procedures; audits verify that the system is followed. Know first-party (internal), second-party (customer/supplier), and third-party (independent) audits at the Remember level, and apply document and training practices to sustain Control-phase gains.

Control plans fail in practice when the wrong revision sits at the workstation, operators never practiced the new standard, or nobody checks whether the control system is actually used. VI.B.2–4 cover the sustainment infrastructure around the control plan.

Document Control for Sustainment (VI.B.2)

Document control is the system that creates, reviews, approves, distributes, revises, and retires process documents so people always work from the current authorized version.

Documents that commonly enter control after a Six Sigma project include:

• Work instructions and standard operating procedures (SOPs)
• Control plans and reaction plans
• Visual standards and limit samples (with controlled masters)
• Forms, checklists, and data-collection sheets
• Process maps and setup sheets tied to the improved method
• Training materials that describe the official method

Why Document Control Matters

Without control:

• Old revisions reappear as “shadow” copies at desks and shared drives.
• Two shifts run two different methods.
• Auditors find the controlled copy online while the floor uses last year’s printout.
• Improvements silently reverse because the obsolete method is easier or more familiar.

Core Document-Control Practices

1. Unique identification — document number, title, and revision level on every controlled page or electronic record.
2. Approval authority — defined roles for author, reviewer, and approver (often process owner and quality).
3. Effective date — clear start of the new revision and retirement of the prior one.
4. Distribution and access — ensure users can get the current version; remove or mark obsolete copies.
5. Change control — request, impact review, approval, and communication for revisions.
6. Retention and archive — keep historical revisions as required by policy or regulation, clearly marked obsolete.
7. Master list / document register — single source listing current revision of each controlled document.

Electronic systems (PLM, QMS portals, controlled wikis) help, but discipline matters more than software. A laminated card with the wrong revision is still a document-control failure.

Link to the Control Plan

The control plan should reference controlled document numbers for SOPs, charts, and reaction instructions. When the process changes, update both the control plan and the related work instructions under the same change-control process.

Training Plans (VI.B.3)

New standards only work if people can execute them. A training plan defines who must learn what, by when, to what competence level, and how effectiveness is verified.

Training Plan Elements

Training Beyond Kickoff

Sustainment training includes:

• Initial rollout before or at process change cutover
• New-hire and transfer training so turnover does not erase gains
• Refresher training after audit findings, process drifts, or major revisions
• Cross-training where coverage gaps would force use of untrained substitutes

Attendance alone is weak evidence. Prefer demonstrated competence on the actual task and reaction scenario. For chart-based controls, operators should know how to plot or read signals and what to do when a rule is broken—not only that “we have an X-bar chart.”

Common Training Failure Modes

• Training completed on a draft procedure that later changed without re-training
• Supervisors trained but night-shift operators not trained
• Reaction plans taught verbally without practice
• No training record, so audits cannot confirm readiness
• Training treated as a project checkbox rather than a living onboarding requirement

Audits (VI.B.4) — First, Second, and Third Party

Audits are systematic, independent (relative to the work being checked), and documented examinations of whether activities comply with planned arrangements and whether those arrangements are effective. In Control, audits confirm that documented controls and training are real on the floor.

Party Types (Remember Level)

Remember the labels:

• First = self (internal).
• Second = other interested business party in the chain (customer/supplier relationship).
• Third = independent outsider.

Audit Focus in Sustainment

Green Belts and process owners use audits to ask:

• Is the current controlled revision at the point of use?
• Are control-plan frequencies and methods followed?
• Do operators know and use reaction plans?
• Are training records complete for people doing the job?
• Do nonconformances produce corrective actions that stick?

Layered process audits (LPAs) are short, frequent checks by multiple management layers that standards are followed—often weekly or daily micro-audits rather than annual system audits. They support sustainment even when not named as a separate BoK leaf.

Audit Findings and Follow-Through

Audits create value only when findings lead to containment (if needed), root cause, corrective action, and verification of effectiveness. A filing cabinet of open findings is not a control system. Connect audit results back to document updates, retraining, and control-plan revisions.

How the Three Work Together

1. Document control freezes the improved method as the official standard.
2. Training builds competence to execute that standard and the reaction plan.
3. Audits verify that people use the current standard and that the control system works.
4. Gaps trigger corrective action, document change, and retraining—closing the loop with PDCA.

Skip any one of the three and sustainment weakens: uncontrolled documents train people on the wrong method; perfect documents without training create paper compliance; training without audits allows silent drift.

Exam Focus

• Document control: current revision, approval, obsolete removal, change control.
• Training: plan elements and competence verification, not attendance theater.
• Audits: correctly classify first-, second-, and third-party scenarios (Remember).
• Scenarios may ask which sustainment gap caused a regression after a successful pilot.

Key takeaway: Lock improvements with controlled documents, competent trained people, and audits that verify practice—and know who is auditing whom when first-, second-, or third-party labels appear.