Nonconformance: what it is and what it means

A nonconformance is the non-fulfillment of a requirement: a part, a document or a delivery time that does not match what had been agreed. The requirement is what had been established — a measurement, a date, a document — and not what is usually done, so a nonconformance is an internal finding of a deviation and not a judgment on a person. The scope covers product, service and process, and it also includes what cannot be touched: an incomplete document, a late delivery, a missing record. Every nonconformance opens a row in the log, with date, source and extent, on which you decide whether to correct the effect or remove the cause.

Distinctive: non-fulfillment of a requirement
Distinctive: internal finding of a deviation
Essential: does not match what had been agreed
Essential: product, service and process
Constant: opens a row in the log
Constant: date, source and extent

Glossary

Nonconformance

Non-fulfillment of an agreed requirement — a measurement, a date, a document — found within the company and recorded as a row with date, source and extent.