Non-conformance is a problematic subject for a lot of businesses, lets discuss the process of making the choice to raise or not raise a non-conformance report.
Things are not always going to go as planned, we have to accept this as a fact of life.
The dilemma exists between good intent, raising the non-conformity to improve and the consequence of not actioning it effectively. An experienced assessor may say that businesses are more inclined not to raise an non-conformity. Usually, for the reason that the mechanism to deal with non-conformity is either too complicated or misunderstood.
Continual improvement
When we look at the purpose and intent of any regulation or standard it is to maintain & improve, the word non-conformity is used to indicate anything that doesn’t conform to the “norm”. The question we then have is this; is the issue important enough for me to raise an non-conformity?
The answer to this is yes. It is always going to be important enough to raise an non-conformity, though often we may find the mechanism for doing this is cumbersome and time consuming and even worse, the results may never be action to bring about an improvement.
The solution is to find an effective and simple way of delivering non-conformity results into the management system. This is especially important when we have a relatively minor non-conformity, but also, we need to retain the ability to investigate and control those of a major nature. Importantly experience tells us that what may appear to be a minor issue, can ultimately form part or the whole of a major issue. Therefore a solution is needed that allows simple input, quick & effective investigation with the ability to escalate when and where required.
How ZEBSOFT can help
Here at ZEBSOFT we put a lot of thought into how to build a solution that allows all forms of NC (Non-Conformance) to be captured quickly through the feedback function, we linked the ability to raise non-conformity in all functional areas of the system to prompt the recording of non-conformity when an issue is identified. By linking all arears we have created the ability to take something as simple as an off the cuff comment that could escalate to a major issue and identify it. Non-conformity management is the method of identifying improvement needs, ZEBSOFT gives the functionality needed to make the process work in the operational environment by giving a user access to the mechanism that drives improvement.
Simply put if a team member needs to raise a non-conformity they don’t have to ask, they simply raise the non-conformance, this feeds the management structure of the system where the people with the relevant authority can access the facts and make sound decisions on the actions required to address the non-conformity. This all happens by a simple and easy to action method.
Always raise non-conformity it is an opportunity to improve that directly affects your customers!
