When I remove documents from DCRs, why aren't the corresponding document type specific process impacts automatically removed?

The ability to add document type specific process impacts to Document Change Requests (DCRs) was introduced at Grand Avenue Software 14.3. The feature can help reduce the overall number of process impacts on DCRs by not adding ones that don’t apply based on the included document types.

An example of making the “Training - Add Documents to Training Profiles” Process Impact applicable only to DCRs that include document types “BOM” or “IFU (Instructions for Use)” is shown below.

Example:

Open

When documents are removed from DCRs, it’s simple to see from the current configuration whether a given process impact is still needed, but that doesn’t take into consideration that the process impact configuration could have changed while the DCR was open.

Using the example above, if all previously added BOM and IFU documents are removed from a DCR, the system can tell that the “Training - Add Documents to Training Profiles” Process Impact is no longer required according to the current configuration, but the system has no way of knowing why that process impact was initially added to the DCR. For example, the DCR could include a document of type Protocol that required the “Training - Add Documents to Training Profiles” Process Impact when it was added to the DCR.

As a result, the online help contains the following caveat:

“NOTE: Process impacts configured to be applicable to specific Document Types may be added any time a document of a new type is added to the Change or Deviation Request. All process impacts should be reviewed for applicability prior to submitting the request.”

Process Impacts are too critical to take the chance of deleting one that is still needed. If the system can’t be 100% sure that it’s removing only unneeded ones, there is less risk in having extra process impacts rather than missing a critical one.