Nonconformances

A nonconformance records when a problem was detected, its severity, a description, status and the inspection it came from. The rejected inspection workflow raises a linked nonconformance in containment and records the inspection completion date. The quality team can then move from the original checks to the follow-up without guessing which event started the case.

Imagine an incoming ingredient inspection with a failed requirement and evidence attachment. Quality Manager rejects the inspection. The linked nonconformance begins in containment, where the team records the issue and assesses whether it is Minor, Major or Critical. Corrective Action Owner investigates the cause and prepares the action record. The link back to the inspection keeps the original observation available during review.

• Source. The inspection identifies the subject, assigned inspector and check evidence.
• Severity. Minor, Major and Critical let the team sort attention across open cases.
• State. Open, Containment, Investigation, Disposition and Closed mark the case’s progress.

The nonconformance is a case record, while corrective actions contains the root cause, proposed action, owner and due date. Keeping them separate helps the Quality Manager see whether containment happened and whether a corrective plan has been approved. One case can be read with its related action history.

Define how the team chooses severity and who can change it. Agree what evidence is enough to record containment, who may advance a case into investigation, and what disposition means for the affected subject. Decide who checks the inspection’s evidence before the nonconformance is closed. A shared meaning for these states makes the open and critical lists useful in daily reviews.

For a physical lot, decide how the recorded containment decision reaches the people handling material. The quality record holds the decision context; the handoff to production or inventory should be rehearsed with the people who execute it.

Start with a rejected inspection containing one failed check and its evidence. Confirm that the related nonconformance points to that inspection and begins in containment. Have Quality Manager set the severity and ask Corrective Action Owner to record a concise description, investigation and proposed correction. Then use the open and critical lists to find the case. Walk back to the original inspection before the team closes anything. This exercise tests whether a reviewer can understand the chain without speaking to the original inspector.

• Open nonconformances — Cases still in containment, investigation or disposition.
• Critical severity — Severe cases gathered for focused review.

See rejection to correction and inspection and disposition.