Glossary · Operator documentation
Process instruction
Also known as: Procedure instruction, Verfahrensanweisung
German: Prozessanweisung
In quality management, a process instruction (German Prozessanweisung or Verfahrensanweisung) is a controlled document that describes how an organizational process runs: its purpose and scope, the sequence of activities, the roles and responsibilities, approvals, inspections and the records it produces.
- Technical documentation
- Compliance
- German source term
In one sentence
A process instruction describes how an organizational process runs — sequence, roles, approvals, inspections and records — as a controlled document.
Example
The process instruction for engineering changes defines who may request a change, who assesses and approves it, which documents must be updated and which record closes the change, with a responsibility matrix for each step.
How it applies
- Scope: A process instruction works at the level of the organization: it connects departments and roles, not the hand movements at one workplace. Responsibilities are often shown in a RACI matrix.
- Quality documentation: It belongs to the quality documentation and is managed under document control: owner, version, approval, review.
- Terminology: In German companies the documents are called Prozessanweisung or Verfahrensanweisung; English-language quality systems usually say procedure or SOP. Translating the German word literally produces a label that English readers may take for a manufacturing process specification.
- Not a Betriebsanweisung: A process instruction governs workflows, not the hazards of a workplace. It is not a Betriebsanweisung in the sense of German occupational safety law, even where companies use that word for it.
Process instruction vs. work instruction
The process instruction says who does what in which order across the organization; the work instruction says how one activity is carried out at one workplace. A process instruction often refers to work instructions for its individual steps.