Non-Conforming

Control # 160 / Rev. / A

I. Purpose

To establish procedures and responsibilities to ensure product that does not conform to requirements is prevented from unintended use.

II. Policy

PPC maintains an effective system for controlling non-conforming material. Repair or rework of non-conforming material shall be according to documented approved instructions.

III. Responsibilities

The Quality Assurance Manager shall review all occurrence where materials or product fails to meet the specified requirements and shall take appropriate action to prevent recurrence. The Quality Manager shall submit to Management a monthly quality report on the number of non-conformities found.
The Quality Manager, Department Manager, Inspection Personnel and Operators have authority to stop the process if non-conformities are detected.

1 General

All personnel at PPC shall immediately notify their supervisors, who in turn shall notify the Quality Assurance Manager, Project Manager or Department Manager when materials, components, assemblies or completed product fails to meet the specified requirements during receiving, in-process, final inspection or testing.
Based on the nature and severity of the non-conformance, the Quality Assurance Manager, Project Manager or Department Manager shall determine if previous production lots should be re-inspected.

2 Identification / Discrepant Material Report (DMR)

Quality personnel will generate a DMR whenever there is product or material that requires additional testing, is of suspect quality, or in need of approval for disposition.
The DMR form shall be filled out completely including the name of the person originating the DMR and a description of the non-conformance.
Upon receiving notification of a non-conformance, the Quality Manager or representative will record the occurrence in the master log, review the DMR for completeness, and identify the suspected non-conforming items.

3 Segregation

The Quality representative investigating the occurrence shall place a hold tag on the suspected non-conforming items.
Suspected items shall not be removed or used unless released in writing by the Quality Manager or Department Manager after the appropriate disposition has been decided by the Material Review Board and the non-conformance report completed.

4 Review

Material Review Board (MRB)
The Quality Manager shall convene a Material Review Board consisting of Engineering, Manufacturing and Quality to review the non-conformance occurrence.
If contractually required to do so, the customer representative will be notified and asked to participate in the review and disposition process.

5 Disposition

Implementation of the decision of the Quality Manager or Department Manager shall be done as soon as possible. Material to be repaired or reworked shall be processed according to authorized procedures and customer approval. Nonconforming material received from suppliers shall be rejected and returned for corrective action.

Use as is:
Suspected item accepted "as is" and approved by the Quality Manager or Department Manager shall be accompanied by authorized waivers/deviations if appropriate.

Repair:
Subject to approval by the Quality Manager, Department Manager or the Material Review Board, nonconforming material may be repaired using an approved process. The purpose of repair is to bring the material into an acceptable condition.
Subject to approval by the Quality Manager, Department Manager or the Material Review Board, nonconforming material may be reworked which is the processing of material to make it conform completely to the drawings, specifications or contract requirements.

Scrap:
If a nonconforming item cannot be economically reworked or repaired to a usable condition and the dollar value and other criteria are consistent with company policy it shall then be scrapped. Quality shall dispose of all scrap immediately.
Scrap items awaiting removal shall be positively marked and segregated to prevent use.

6 Documentation

The Quality Manager shall maintain a master log of all reports of suspected non-conformances.

7 Prevention of Recurrence

Upon confirmation by the review process that suspected items are in fact non-conforming to the specified requirements, the Quality Manager shall isolate the root cause of the problem and take appropriate action to prevent recurrence.

<end> Control # 160 / Rev. / A

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