What is a Non-Conformance and is it Really a Bad Thing?

We’ve all been there.  Whether it’s a double booking in the diary, travel delays or cancellation of appointments due to illness.  Sometimes things just don’t go according to plan.  Whilst it may be tempting to brush it under the carpet, a non-conformance no matter how big or small should be viewed as an opportunity for improvement.

A non-conformance is anything that has happened that shouldn’t have.  It could be an issue with an internal process, a supplier’s performance or even a customer complaint and unfortunately, the process is often viewed negatively.

There are times where some individuals will see raising a non-conformance as a ‘weakness’ and they may want to avoid getting either themselves, or a colleague in to trouble.  But we must remember that we’re all human, mistakes happen and the reality is that no business runs without error.

By logging a non-conformance you can identify trends which are critical to continual improvement, one of the key focuses of any management system and ISO 9001 in particular.

Once a non-conformance has been raised, you can identify the root cause of the issue and then take corrective action to prevent the chance of re-occurrence.  These corrective actions could be a change in procedure, providing staff training or improving communication with your customers.  These actions will ultimately help you to:

• Save time and money on recurring problems, with many of these being resolved permanently the first time round.
• Efficiently use your resources
• Improve customer satisfaction, therefore reducing the number of customer complaints

If you would like to learn more about non-conformance, take a look at our training or watch our Management System Improvement Webinar.