A supervisor's signature shows the record was read and the decision taken on. Thirty signatures a day show no such thing; the record only looks complete. The supervisor's signature is kept for four records:
- Excursion record: every shipment that left the temperature band
- Quarantine and release: any decision that changes the status of a container or goods
- Regime change: a change in the number or type of plates
- Shift handover form: the only link between two shifts
These four are decisions whose consequences carry into the next shift or into the product. Other records are complete with the signature of whoever did the work; a second signature adds no information. The supervisor's signature does not verify the measurement, it takes on the decision: the person who measured answers for the data, the person who decided answers for the outcome. An incomplete record is not shown as complete by a signature; the person asking for the correction and the follow-up step are written down. If the decision affects product release and the supervisor has no such authority, it goes to the quality owner.
A night shift may have no supervisor, so who signs at that hour is written down in advance. A signature added later shows the decision was not taken at the time: if unavoidable, the real date goes in, and 'seen the following day' beats a false date. A name and date go beside the signature. Electronic approval needs the same three things: who, when, and which version of the record.
