This is looking back to see what it is you've achieved, what it is you've done, what's the results that you've obtained and driving back improvements.
It is also looking at, in this stage, around the resources that you've required in here the infrastructure that you've needed in terms of monitoring and measurement, in terms of calibration, certification, servicing of equipment, what about in terms of competency of the workforce and assessment of that competency? They might also include validation or periodic validation of certain things within your business.
Another key area around production service provision is identification and traceability. The requirements around identification and traceability is relevant and is applicable depending upon the services or the products that you provide, and based on the contractual, legal and standard obligations. The traceability, for example, for a Christmas tree being installed off shore, goes right the way back to all the individual parts associated to and, right back, often to the mill certs of the steel or material that's used.
Often these come with quite significant traceability packs to support that. However, the traceability of something much simpler than that, could just simply be a contract order, and maybe traceability of where that raw material came from. Or if it's a service requirement, it could simply be possibly just the traceability of let's say, you're going into a confined space to the pump, it may be the traceability on the gas test meter, that goes back to the UKAS calibration. There’s a little bit about that, that is very specific to the services and products that you provide into the customers’ requirements and industry.
Prevention of non-conformity, due to human failure, also falls into operations as well.
Where traceability is required, the organisation shall control with unique identification, and be able to demonstrate that, and an internal audit process is a very good way of being able to demonstrate and walk through your traceability programs to see that you can go all the way back. Importantly, there may be many areas of separation, many degrees of separation associated to you, and how far back that traceability has to go.
In terms of the preservation of the products and services, this is associated to possibly material that is produced and kept in storage before it reaches its final destination, could be that it's going on a ship in a container, it could be that you have hired a storage location, again, it's all risk base, what could be the impact in terms of products themselves, and what preservations, you have to have.
A little bit different if you were thinking possibly within the food industry, where there are certain temperature controls, and hygiene controls and things like that.
It's all relative to the industry that you work in, and the products that you have.
We could also talk, for example, about medical testing equipment, if you're using a storage location or you're storing them at your site, it maybe they have to be in a controlled environment, with set temperature controls and humidity controls. It maybe you have products that cannot be exposed to certain lights and so on and so forth.
It's understanding what that preservation of that product is, and likewise, also when you put it in the hands of others, to deliver that and to store it for you.
A lot of It could come round to the packaging material you use as well and how it's been handled. What you're going to think about in terms of the preservation is again, risk. You can see in every part we're going through in terms of this is all very much risk based, and what the risk is to your business or your customer.