What an NCR contains
| Section | Content |
|---|---|
| Identification | NCR number, date, raised by, area, product or process, batch or lot |
| Description | What was found, against which requirement, how many items, evidence (photos, measurements) |
| Containment | Quarantine, hold, stop the line, inform the customer if product has shipped |
| Disposition | Rework, repair, use as is (with concession), scrap, return to supplier |
| Root cause | Five whys or fishbone; the underlying cause, not the symptom |
| Corrective action | What will stop recurrence, owner, due date, hierarchy-of-control level where safety is involved |
| Verification and closure | Evidence the action is done and effective; sign-off |
Where NCRs come from
Inspection and test, customer complaints, supplier deliveries, internal and external audits, process monitoring and, in regulated industries, deviations from the approved procedure. Safety non-conformances, such as a guard found removed on a layered audit, use the same record.
NCR, deviation and CAPA
A deviation (pharmaceutical and food) is a departure from an approved procedure, whether or not product was affected. An NCR records a failure against a requirement. Both feed CAPA, the system that manages the corrective and preventive actions and verifies them. ISO 9001 clause 10.2 requires all three elements: react and contain, evaluate and act on causes, and review effectiveness.
Common mistakes
- Disposition recorded, root cause left blank.
- Root cause written as "operator error" or "supplier".
- Corrective action closed when assigned rather than when verified.
- NCRs raised only for product, never for process or system failures.
- A backlog nobody reviews, so repeat non-conformances are invisible.
NCRs inside daily management
A non-conformance found on the line is raised at the Tier 1 huddle the same day: containment is agreed, the NCR is opened, and the root cause work is assigned. Open NCRs and overdue corrective actions appear on the quality section of the tier board; repeat non-conformances by product or cause are reviewed at Tier 2 and become improvement projects.