Records and protocols

The purpose of a log is to store information that an event or action has occurred. A log has a similar meaning except that it additionally describes how the activity took place and what it led to.

Do not make records unnecessarily!

AyMINE does a lot of logging independently and there is no need to create them manually. Each task, decision automatically creates a record that is saved and cannot be changed; the meeting itself makes a record of the meeting, but in addition to that, records are created that again prove that the event occurred.

Records need to be made of activities that took place outside of the AyMINE environment, typically on the shop floor, at the customer's site. Records are essential if you need a signature from the other party – either paper (then you need to hide the signed document) or electronic – then you hide the signed PDF.

Protocols

protocols document the progress of an event, typically an audit or testing, but can also relate to other activities. Protocols should record the progress or outcome and findings. The protocol nis then stored with the object that was the subject of the action – in the project documentation, the product that was tested before being handed over, etc. The specific object does not have to exist, e.g. for internal audits according to ISO, the object to be verified is processes, documents, archives, etc. Such records are stored by the department responsible for the controls, typically sorted by year. AyMINE can easily sort them by subject, year or author, so you don't have to create further sorting yourself.

You ask

Can I count on the records not being lost?

Records can only be deleted 3 days after creation, older records cannot be deleted.

As an auditor, can I trust that the records are true and not redacted?

People can edit records up to one week after they are created. It is possible for them to create a record further in the past, but the date it was created can be found in the history (menu in the record detail). The date of creation cannot be changed by the user.

Since records can only be edited back a week, it is not even possible to use an older record and redo it to make another one look like the old one. In addition, after each update a record is saved in the history that the change was made.

Why is it possible to edit a week after creation?

Records that people create manually often go through revisions, or multiple people collaborate on them. They don't serve as evidence of exactly when an action took place, automatically generated records are used for that. If the system did not provide room for editing, it would be very difficult to work with.

Is there any way around these restrictions?

No; we try not to. Technically, a programmer or skilled person could change some things, but it would still be possible to detect that someone was tampering with the records.

What is the difference between records created automatically by the system and records created by users

There are quite a lot of differences, depending on the point of view we are evaluating:

• Creation There is no need to think about automatic records; they simply create themselves in response to an event.
• Procedurally The important thing is how we view records from a procedural point of view as documents. By creating themselves, automatic records create a different type of document – they do correspond to time, but it is not uncommon for things to be entered into the system after the fact, so the time may not correspond to reality either. Therefore, in terms of the process of verifying the veracity of a record, both types of record need to be viewed with an awareness of where their strengths and weaknesses lie.
• Location in the system Automatic records are in the object detail on the Activities tab, whereas manually created records are in the project or area record folder. Also displayed among the activities are.