The concept of formal operations (that is, a collection of business practices to assure effective, accountable operations) has vexed the Laboratory for many years. To date most attempts at developing such programs have been based upon rigid, compliance-based interpretations of a veritable mountain of Department of Energy (DOE) orders, directives, notices, and standards. These DOE dictates seldom take the broad view but focus on highly specialized programs isolated from the overall context of formal operations. The result is a confusing array of specific, and often contradictory, requirements that produce a patchwork of overlapping niche programs. This unnecessary duplication wastes precious resources, dramatically increases the complexity of our work processes, and communicates a sense of confusion to our customers and regulators. Coupled with the artificial divisions that have historically existed among the Laboratory`s formal operations organizations (quality assurance, configuration management, records management, training, etc.), this approach has produced layers of increasingly vague and complex formal operations plans, each of which interprets its parent and adds additional requirements of its own. Organizational gridlock ensues whenever an activity attempts to implement these bureaucratic monstrosities. The integrated formal operations plan presented is to establish a set of requirements that must be met by anmore » integrated formal operations program, assign responsibilities for implementation and operation of the program, and specify criteria against which the performance of the program will be measured. The accountable line manager specifies the items, processes, and information (the controlled elements) to which the formal operations program specified applies. The formal operations program is implemented using a graded approach based on the level of importance of the various controlled elements and the scope of the activities in which they are involved.« less