An Allegory of Inspection
Aug. 20th, 2007 09:57 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
hrjThis is an allegory of the behind-the-scenes goings on when the FDA inspects a manufacturing facility. This is a work of fiction and is not intended to represent actual persons or events.
At some point during the late afternoon, the FDA inspector sneezes. The Attentive Director-Level Person thinks, Oh, dear -- I hope she's not coming down with a cold. Vitamin C is good for preventing colds. I'll make sure we have some available just in case she asks for it. And the ADLP slips out of the inspector's temporary office, next door to the war room and mutters to the Harried Manager-Level Information Organizer, "Vitamin C -- see what you can do," before disappearing back to the inspector's side.
The HMLIO stares at the closing door in dismay then turns to three gofers standing ready and dispatches contingency instructions. The first gofer heads off to the company store with a purchase order. But -- alas! -- the store clerk points out that we don't actually manufacture plain vitamin C tablets, only multi-vitamins. The gofer leaves the P.O. with the clerk (who assembles one bottle each of the various multi-vitamin options that include C) and heads off to the local grocery store to pick up a bottle of chewable C tablets.
But the second gofer .... The second gofer is sent to the company cafeteria and tells the catering manager, "FDA business -- orange juice," then rushes off-shift. The catering manager tears his hair a little, then puts together an itemized inventory of all orange juice on the premises, with expiration dates specified.
The third gofer talks to the warehouse manager, who then stays on-site until 10pm putting together an exhaustive package of all purchases of reagent-grade ascorbic acid used in production, complete with QC testing records.
The results of all three quests are assembled the next morning in the war room, ready to be pulled out on cue like a rabbit from a hat. The inspector arrives and as she opens her briefcase and settles in for the morning she turns to the Attentive Director-Level Person and says, "The flowers on the side table are very elegant, but I wonder if we could move them somewhere else? I seem to have an allergy to something in the arrangement." She sneezes briefly. The ADLP hands her a box of tissues and then takes the vase of flowers out of the room.
At some point during the late afternoon, the FDA inspector sneezes. The Attentive Director-Level Person thinks, Oh, dear -- I hope she's not coming down with a cold. Vitamin C is good for preventing colds. I'll make sure we have some available just in case she asks for it. And the ADLP slips out of the inspector's temporary office, next door to the war room and mutters to the Harried Manager-Level Information Organizer, "Vitamin C -- see what you can do," before disappearing back to the inspector's side.
The HMLIO stares at the closing door in dismay then turns to three gofers standing ready and dispatches contingency instructions. The first gofer heads off to the company store with a purchase order. But -- alas! -- the store clerk points out that we don't actually manufacture plain vitamin C tablets, only multi-vitamins. The gofer leaves the P.O. with the clerk (who assembles one bottle each of the various multi-vitamin options that include C) and heads off to the local grocery store to pick up a bottle of chewable C tablets.
But the second gofer .... The second gofer is sent to the company cafeteria and tells the catering manager, "FDA business -- orange juice," then rushes off-shift. The catering manager tears his hair a little, then puts together an itemized inventory of all orange juice on the premises, with expiration dates specified.
The third gofer talks to the warehouse manager, who then stays on-site until 10pm putting together an exhaustive package of all purchases of reagent-grade ascorbic acid used in production, complete with QC testing records.
The results of all three quests are assembled the next morning in the war room, ready to be pulled out on cue like a rabbit from a hat. The inspector arrives and as she opens her briefcase and settles in for the morning she turns to the Attentive Director-Level Person and says, "The flowers on the side table are very elegant, but I wonder if we could move them somewhere else? I seem to have an allergy to something in the arrangement." She sneezes briefly. The ADLP hands her a box of tissues and then takes the vase of flowers out of the room.
