About Change Order
A Change Order (CO) is used in engineering to register, plan, and manage formally approved changes to products, components, or technical documentation. The CO process ensures that all changes are evaluated, tracked, and implemented in a controlled and documented manner, supporting quality and traceability throughout the engineering lifecycle.
The purposes of the Change Order (CO) are as follows:
- Register and maintain information on approved engineering changes.
- Plan the implementation of changes, including scheduling and resource allocation.
- Manage ongoing changes with a focus on execution, progress, and cost control.
- Analyze completed changes to support continuous improvement and reduce future errors.
- Document and track changes to specific objects, parts, or assemblies.
Change Order Statuses
- Preliminary – The CO is being prepared. Information is collected and initial analysis is underway. This is the default status for new change orders.
- Analyzed – The impact, cost, and feasibility of the change have been reviewed. The CO is ready for evaluation and further action.
- Approved – The CO has been reviewed and approved for execution. No additional Change Requests (CRs) can be connected after this point. When set to Approved, all connected CRs are automatically set to Processed.
- Performed – The change has been executed according to the plan.
- Completed – All actions related to the CO are finalized, and the change is fully implemented. The status can be changed back to Performed if the CO is reopened.
- Canceled – The CO will not be started or completed, and cannot be connected to a CR. Cancellation can occur at any time if the CO cannot proceed to the next status.