Free Non-Conformance Report Template

1. 01A part does not meet the drawing or specification.
2. 02An inspection result is outside tolerance.
3. 03A customer complaint identifies a shipped defect.
4. 04A supplier batch fails incoming inspection.
5. 05The wrong material, certificate, label, revision, packaging, or document was used.
6. 06A process step was missed or completed incorrectly.
7. 07Suspect product may have moved beyond the point of detection.
8. 08Product is on hold and needs an approved decision before it can be reworked, released, scrapped, returned, or used as-is.
9. 09The issue is repeated or may happen again.
10. 10A supplier, customer, engineering, or quality approval is needed.

1. 1

   Step 1 — Record the NCR details

   Record the NCR number, date opened, source, related record, status, owner, site, department, customer, supplier, and response due dates.

   Put the part, defect, lot or PO, and supplier or customer in the title so the NCR can be found without opening the record.

   Good NCR title

   Certificate heat mismatch — RM-42 raw material bar — RM42-LOT-0720 / PO-46218 line 20 — Metalsource Ltd.

   Avoid

   Vague titles such as "bad parts" or "quality issue."

2. 2

   Step 2 — Classify the response level

   Use practical fields such as nonconformance type, severity, customer impact, recurrence indicator, escalation required, and independent verification required.

   Keep it simple

   Use only the classification fields needed to route the response and approval. Do not create a complex scoring system unless your company or customer requires it.

3. 3

   Step 3 — Identify the part, lot, supplier, customer, or process

   Record the product and process detail needed to locate the affected product and define what remains suspect.

   Include part number, revision, work order, lot or batch, process area, operation step, quantity affected, quantity suspect, location, and clean point.

   Check traceability

   Someone should be able to find the affected product later using the part number, revision, work order, lot, location, supplier, customer, and process details.

4. 4

   Step 4 — State the requirement not met

   Without a cited requirement, the NCR cannot show exactly what failed.

   The requirement may come from a drawing, specification, inspection plan, work instruction, customer requirement, purchase order, certificate, packaging instruction, or internal procedure.

   Weak entry

   Certificate wrong.

   Strong entry

   Certificate heat number on COC-ML-7782 must match the bundle tags and PO-46218 line 20; RC-RM-42 Rev D and WI-SUP-09 Rev B apply.

5. 5

   Step 5 — Describe the actual condition found

   Record the observed or measured condition, detection point, and evidence reference without adding an unverified cause.

   Keep cause out of this field

   Do not enter guessed root cause unless it has already been supported by evidence.

6. 6

   Step 6 — Separate affected quantity from suspect quantity

   Affected quantity is the confirmed nonconforming product or record.

   Suspect quantity is the wider product, lot, shipment, or material that may be affected until it is checked.

   Example

   Affected quantity: 16 bars with certificate mismatch. Suspect quantity: 16 bars / 480 kg from RM42-LOT-0720 pending certificate correction and heat-traceability verification.

7. 7

   Step 7 — Add immediate containment

   Containment controls risk now. It stops further use, shipment, processing, mixing, or escape of suspect product.

   Good containment entry

   Hold the 16 bars / 480 kg in receiving quarantine until the corrected certificate and heat traceability are verified.

8. 8

   Step 8 — Record the disposition decision

   Record the approved disposition, who authorized it, and any release conditions.

   Examples: sort / screen, rework, repair, scrap, return to supplier, replacement, use-as-is, concession, or hold pending review.

   Include the disposition owner and approval where required.

   Approval check

   Use-as-is, repair, concession, and customer-impacting release decisions require the quality, engineering, customer, supplier, or delegated approval defined by the NCR procedure.

9. 9

   Step 9 — Record the correction or product action

   Record the completed product action and the evidence that supports release, return, rework, repair, or scrap.

   Correction is not corrective action

   Correction deals with the affected product. Corrective action addresses the supported cause so recurrence risk is reduced.

10. 10

    Step 10 — Decide whether corrective action is required

    Use this section to decide whether the NCR needs a separate corrective action, 8D, CAR, SCAR, or RCA record.

    Escalate when needed

    Review repeat issues, supplier-caused issues, customer returns, high-risk defects, and customer escapes to decide whether RCA, corrective action, SCAR, CAR, or 8D is required.

11. 11

    Step 11 — Attach evidence

    Attach the records that show what was found, what was held, what was done, who approved release, and why closure was accepted.

    Evidence to attach

    Photos, inspection results, returned part photos, sort sheets, rework records, supplier responses, customer approvals, concession approvals, and closure records.

12. 12

    Step 12 — Verify and close the NCR

    Closure check

    Do not close the NCR until disposition, product action, evidence, communication, approvals, and any required corrective-action links are complete.

FROM TEMPLATE TO 8DFLOW

When NCR ownership, disposition, and evidence are split across files