Why are paper forms insufficient for inspection schedules?

Steve McBride | Feb 12, 2022 | 3 min read

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Digitizing an inspection schedule takes some effort, so you want to get it right the first time. As you have probably discovered if you’re managing an inspection schedule, paper forms are not ideal for ensuring inspections are completed correctly and on time.

Staff are busy with the task at hand. Remembering to do monthly inspections is not a high priority - until you make it one. Paper forms add unnecessary complexity, provide opportunities for mistakes and ommissions, lack real-time visibility, and waste time and money.

At Weever, we have helped organizations of all different shapes and sizes create and manage highly efficient and effective inspections schedules that enable safety, quality, compliance, maintenance and continuous improvement management.

Why paper forms suck for inspections.

Lack of Real-Time Visibility

Paper forms sit at a machine, or at a site, and then are turned in at the end of a shift or day. After that, they are then manually input into a spreadsheet. This process causes an unnecessary time lag, which can result in a defective product leaving the facility or a safety issue going unchecked and causing an incident.

Time & Costs

Manual data inputting is time consuming and needs to be completed by administrative staff. This mundane task can easily be outsourced to software, which frees up time to do the real work instead of inputting data into spreadsheets.

Opportunities for Errors and Omissions

People can have poor writing skills and not complete forms. Errors and omitted data can require a lot of back and forth between staff, supervisors and administrators. Worse still, errors can result in poor data, missed issues and problems with regulatory compliance.

Lack of Accountability

Before digitizing inspections, a common story we hear from our customers is about what they call “pencil whipping”, staff doing the bare minimum, in some cases, a few days after the inspection was due.

Software helps to protect against this with automated time and location stamps for submissions, required fields and you can also require a photo of the completed inspection.

Inspection Schedules

Customize inspection Form Templates
Create a "Digital Twin" of your facility including assets, machines and equipment
Build and Manage Inspection Schedules. Easily manage "downtime" changes
Guide staff through the process with on-demand training
Automate work orders and real-time KPI reporting