Gaging nonconforming parts: General Industry Coverage

Do you know why your last part run had a high defect rate, why parts from an outside supplier were nonconforming, and what you are going to do with those parts?

If your company has a material review board, it can probably answer those questions.

A material review board is a group of individuals with the authority to disposition nonconforming parts and materials. I’m on the MRB where I work, and an individual from each of the following disciplines is usually represented: quality, design engineering, manufacturing engineering, purchasing and machining.

We meet on a daily basis in the quality area. Nonconforming parts are staged there for our meeting, which is usually scheduled within the first hour of the work day. This way, we can start working on solutions and contain any damage right away. When we meet, we review the preceding day’s nonconforming material report (NCMR). This document provides details about the nonconforming parts, including what is wrong, the responsible department, who wrote the document and the number of nonconforming parts. If the NCMR is on a purchased part, the vendor is also listed.

When we evaluate parts, some are considered outright scrap because of out-of-tolerance features; for other parts, the raw stock might be nonconforming. These are just a couple of reasons. We then ask whether the parts can be reworked, how the parts became nonconforming (i.e., if an operator or machine caused the problem), and, if outsourced, should the parts be returned to the vendor for rework or replacement. With this type of information, we decide how to disposition the parts.

We want the process to be relatively quick, with the goal being to disposition the parts during the meeting. For example, if the parts are scrap, they should be disposed of before the end of the day.