Start with a question and work back to the evidence. These illustrative briefs show the records, relationships and assessment points that matter in different sectors.
Haulage and logistics
Booking → dispatch plan → manifest → delivery event → exception → resolution.
Potential records
Transport bookings, dispatch sheets, routes and schedules, load manifests, driver or depot updates, proof of delivery, failed-delivery notes, customer communications and related charges.
Example task
“Why was this delivery late, what did the customer get told and which parts of the explanation are documented?”
What to establish
Reliable links between the booking and delivery, the sequence of revised instructions, whether the recorded route reflects a plan or an actual journey, and the treatment of driver and customer information.
CNC and precision engineering
Enquiry → drawing revision → quote → job setup → manufacture → inspection.
Potential records
Customer specifications, drawings and CAD exports, quotation revisions, material and tooling requirements, CNC programmes, setup sheets, job cards, inspection results and rework notes.
Example task
“Which drawing revision applied to this job, and does the inspection record address its stated tolerances?”
What to establish
Revision consistency, permissions for customer-owned designs, meaningful links between programmes and jobs, and the domain expertise required to assess an answer.
Manufacturing and plastics
Production order → materials and setup → run → quality checks → rework or release.
Potential records
Bills of materials, material grades and lots, mould or tool identifiers, batch and run sheets, recorded process settings, production counts, scrap, downtime, maintenance and quality investigations.
Example task
“What changed between these production runs, and which recorded facts support the explanation for additional scrap?”
What to establish
Whether the material lot, mould or tool, machine and run can be matched across systems; whether measurements are comparable; and whether the explanation is confirmed, disputed or absent.
Printing and packaging
Customer specification → estimate → artwork or proof → approval → print job → finishing and dispatch.
Potential records
Job specifications, quotation changes, artwork versions where rights permit, proof approvals, job tickets, substrate and finishing instructions, production checks, reprint records and delivery notes.
Example task
“Did the final job reflect the approved specification, and where did the reprint request originate?”
What to establish
The approved version, the sequence of changes, rights to artwork and customer content, and whether a defect or reprint reason was documented.
Wholesale, ecommerce and product businesses
Product listing → customer order → stock allocation → fulfilment → support or return.
Potential records
Catalogue and variant data, supplier quotations, stock histories, substitutions, orders, dispatch events, support threads, return reasons, authorised manuals and recorded resolutions.
Example task
“Was the customer's question answered using the right product variant, and what happened after the proposed resolution?”
What to establish
Stable product identifiers, the information available at the time, customer-data restrictions and a recorded link between the support case and its outcome.
Construction and project delivery
Enquiry and scope → estimate → instruction or variation → valuation → final account.
Potential records
Estimates, bills or schedules of quantities, quotations, tender clarifications, project correspondence, instructions, variation records, progress records, valuations and final accounts.
Example task
“Why did the final cost change, which changes are documented and what remains unexplained?”
What to establish
Consistent scope and tax treatment, links between an instruction and its commercial effect, evidence of approval, and the difference between an amount claimed, agreed, invoiced or paid.
Explore the synthetic construction example →Maintenance, repair and field service
Fault report → diagnosis → parts or repair decision → service work → test and outcome.
Potential records
Customer fault descriptions, diagnostic histories, equipment details, parts selections, repair specifications, technician notes, service records, follow-up questions and test results.
Example task
“What evidence supported the repair choice, which checks were performed and was the reported fault resolved?”
What to establish
Equipment and job identifiers, the sequence of tests and interventions, whether a diagnosis was confirmed and whether the outcome was checked rather than assumed.
Business services and commercial operations
Enquiry → proposal → agreement → delivery → handover → invoice or renewal.
Potential records
CRM histories, proposals, service specifications, authorised contracts, delivery correspondence, project plans, action logs, handovers, invoices and support records.
Example task
“What was agreed, what changed during delivery and which commitments are still open?”
What to establish
A clear case boundary, the accepted agreement or scope, changes in responsibility and permission to use client communications.