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PMP lesson · Change & Configuration Control · Change & configuration control · lesson 2 of 2 · about 6 minutes

Configuration management: the right version everywhere

All approaches (especially hardware, software and regulated work)Free preview
Goal: After this lesson you can explain the four configuration management activities and the difference between configuration management and change control.

1The situation

Six cells, four software versions

The customer has six identical robot cells. After a week of troubleshooting, the engineers discover that the cells run four different firmware versions and two different safety PLC programs, and nobody can say which version was tested and approved.

Every engineer who visited the site had “just updated” something. Each change might have been fine, but now no one knows what is really installed.

Configuration management prevents exactly this: it makes sure everyone knows which version is the right one, and where it is.

2What is a configuration item?

A configuration item is anything whose exact version matters: drawings, PLC and robot programs, HMI files, firmware, the bill of materials, safety documents. Each one gets an ID and a version number, and changes only through approved change requests.

Item
Configuration item
A controlled product or document with an ID and version.
Safety PLC program, rev 3.2
Baseline
Approved configuration
The approved set of versions at a point in time.
“FAT configuration” of all items
Audit
Verification
Checks reality against the records.
Is rev 3.2 really on all six cells?

3The four activities

1 · Identify

Decide which items are controlled (drawings, PLC code, firmware, BOM) and give each an ID and version.

2 · Control changes

No change to a controlled item without an approved change request.

3 · Status accounting

Record which version is current, where it is installed and what changed.

4 · Verify & audit

Check that what is built and installed matches the approved configuration.
Identify → control → record → verify.

4How it looks on the exam

Exam-style question 1. During installation, the project manager discovers that electricians are using revision C of the wiring drawings, while revision E is the approved version. Revision C was still on the shared drive. What should the project manager do FIRST?
A. Let the electricians finish and correct the differences during commissioning
B. Stop the affected work, make sure only the approved revision is available, and assess the work already done
C. Send an email reminding the team to use the latest drawings
D. Ask the electricians to compare the two revisions and decide
Show the answer and the decode
Answer: B.
In simple English
The crew works from an old drawing because the old version was still accessible.
What is the question really asking?
The first action.
Key words / trigger
“revision C … revision E is the approved version”
PMP logic
Contain the configuration failure: stop wrong work, control the documents, then assess what was already built.
Why the wrong answer looks attractive
A reminder email feels quick, but the wrong drawing is still available and work continues.

5Remember this

Your memory card

  • Configuration items: drawings, programs, firmware, BOM, documents with IDs and versions
  • Four activities: identify, control, status accounting, verify & audit
  • Change control decides; configuration management keeps versions correct everywhere
  • Lost control → stop, audit, compare, restore approved (not newest) versions
The full lesson in the PMCLEAR app also has:
  • the rest of the lesson (Four activities)
  • a worked example
  • the common traps (wrong vs right)
  • 2 exam-style questions with the decode
  • a 3-question quick check
Open the full lesson → Create a free account
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