Work done early that is not done well is very hard to fix. Once documents are issued into some project document control systems, they take a life of their own and all sorts of interwoven work processes start. If the initial documents are not carefully prepared, the money spent on work that is done using them will be wasteful and it may be very expensive (if not impossible) to later fix problems created.

Unfortunately, some projects seem to be managed on the principle that the objective is to satisfy a document demand system. The documents may have no measurable value or quality except as being 'on-time' or 'late'. Further, document review systems in some cases simply do not work. An approval signature may be the only way of judging if the document is considered OK. In some cases, if the time for comments is lapsed and there are no comments, then the document is considered to be without fault!

For engineers caught in such a system there is little that can be done.

We believe there are two things we can do to break the document issue and review trap. We produce key documents in a rough form early that are not official, and we make it very easy for anyone to review them unofficially. If our rough documents have obviously good principles, we hope the good bits will be copied into the official documents that have to go through document control.

The quality of our work can be judged on whether it works. We integrate our work in a simulator so that it can be tested. Further we make our work as easy as possible to read or review.

In the past, it would have been possible to walk through a design office and look at the drawings on the boards. Now projects have design reviews at key 'milestones' such as a 30%, and 60% completion. Specialists drive the 3D model for the review on special computers. Just as the quality of documents going through document control may be questionable, the desire to achieve the review schedule may infuence how good the '30% completed' design really is.

We are not for going back to old methods, we are for going forward with betteruse of new methods, a virtual plant that is quickly and easily developed and the ability to have continuous design review method which is accessable to all to use.