Most manufacturers recognize the need for good communication and documentation control processes, but many underestimate its importance.  They think that running one shift removes the need, or their employees have a good handle and remember what is needed without a system or process.

While that may be true, it is not only not recommended, it would fail most ISO audits.

Companies use many methods for documenting requirements and communicating between shifts. Some of the most common are:

1. Paper Based Tracking - This requires employees to document all needs, notes, and issues in paper format. While it is very inexpensive to implement, it requires additional processes for document control and is subject to employees forgetting to document or misplacing the documents.

2. Email Communication - Some companies will use internal emails to communicate needs and requirements between shifts and production builds. This creates an electronic record of the needs and notes. However, it is difficult to control and ensure everyone has only the latest information. It also requires users to check their email in order to get the latest updates.

3. Daily Meetings - This is probably the most common method for communicating information between shifts. It allows the exiting shift to update the incoming shift of any issues and important topics for the current job. However, it is subject to human error as they may forget to communicate some of the information. It also fails to document the information for later use. Also, this will not carry daily information into the next day if the company runs only a single shift and requires users to remember important information from day to day and week to week.

4. System Based Tracking - Many ERP systems provide methods for documenting important information for each job. Ideally it would allow users to communicate across departments, jobs, and days.

Companies may decide to use a combination of the above methods depending on the complexity of the assembly and production requirements.