Non conformance procedure and flowchart: Get your workflows right

As was foreshadowed above, there are multiple elements and dimensions to a good non conformance procedure, much of which has to do with creating processes which prevent non conformances from taking place.

But because we are looking at the non conformance procedure and flowchart, we will focus on the procedure which takes place after a non conformance has been identified.

The purpose of a non conformance procedure is to document non conformances, action non conformances and to ideally stop similar non conformances from occurring in the future by identifying the root cause.

The non conformance report you see below (NCR) is a framework for following a good non conformance procedure. In practice, it's also how many companies (especially construction and other industrial companies) properly document, action and then track non conformances.

You'll notice that there are a few key elements to this non conformance procedure:

When documented in this way, it becomes far easier to see what a good non conformance procedure looks like - and becomes easy to implement a strong framework for non conformances which everyone can use and rely on.