Once scoping checklists for a Management of Change (MOC) have been completed, the next critical step is generating and approving project action items and assigning them to the appropriate groups, roles, or individuals. All of this occurs during the Scoping Phase of the MOC lifecycle. Far from a simple administrative exercise, this structured approach ensures that notifications, task execution, and approvals are coordinated across the project—an outcome that is increasingly supported by management of change solutions and applications that help orchestrate handoffs as the MOC transitions into the Change Design Phase.
The Challenge of Manual Assignment
In many facilities, task assignment is still a manual process. The MOC owner or coordinator is responsible for identifying who should complete each action item, often relying on spreadsheets, organizational charts, and personal knowledge. This introduces a few key risks:
- Delayed execution due to time spent identifying and contacting the right person
- Misdirected assignments that lead to rework or errors
- Underutilization of skilled personnel or overloading key resources
- Lack of continuity when staff changes or goes on leave
A missed or misassigned action can compromise not only MOC timeliness but safety and compliance as well.
Best Practice: Role-Aware, Contextual Assignment Recommendations
To solve this, leading MOC platforms should provide automated assignment recommendations based on:
- Organizational role and work location – Knowing who works where and what their certifications or past roles have been
- Skill sets – Including formal qualifications and documented experience in similar tasks
- Task similarity from past MOCs – Leveraging historical data to suggest personnel who previously completed similar work effectively
This system doesn’t override human judgment. The MOC owner can always adjust assignments based on current staffing conditions or evolving project priorities. But the default recommendations streamline the process, reduce errors, and help standardize workload distribution across the facility.
Learning from the Past: A Data-Driven Approach
AI-enhanced platforms take it a step further by analyzing closed MOCs to find patterns. For example, if past MOCs involving compressor replacement typically involved the Mechanical Integrity lead, the platform can suggest that person—or someone with an equivalent profile—for the current project. This historical context creates a smarter, more responsive assignment process.
FACILEX® MOC: Smarter Assignments by Design
FACILEX® MOC supports these productivity advantages by embedding assignment logic directly into the Scoping phase. The platform’s awareness of plant organization, user roles, and historical performance makes it a powerful tool not only for scoping but for executing change efficiently and safely. As AI capabilities continue to grow, expect even more intelligent and predictive features to emerge—bringing us closer to a world of zero-delay, right-first-time MOC execution.
