Controlling nonconforming materials is crucial to quality assurance in the defense and aerospace industries. With such high stakes involved, including safety and mission-critical performance, ensuring all components meet the design specifications and quality standards is vital. Nonconforming materials must be systematically managed to prevent their unintended use in production, and effective control processes help mitigate these risks.
Having the right roadmap for managing nonconforming materials will ensure your organization produces consistently reliable products and navigates the balance between nonconformance and quality standards.
Understanding Nonconforming Material
Nonconformity refers to a deviation occurring from the specified product requirements. In the aerospace and defense industries, nonconforming material refers to components, assemblies or parts that do not meet specified design criteria, regulatory requirements or standards. It can involve deviations in materials, performance specifications, dimensions or workmanship. For example, an aircraft component might have incorrect dimensions that affect its fit, or a military-grade component may fail to meet specific durability requirements.
An effective control of nonconforming material procedure results in:
- Cost control: The timely identification and management of nonconforming material help prevent recalls, rework and product redesigns.
- Customer satisfaction: Making sure all products meet specified quality standards helps maintain client trust, including that of defense contractors and government agencies.
- Regulatory compliance: Adherence to strict aerospace and defense standards improves compliance with government regulations and contractual requirements.
- Safety and reliability: Only parts and materials meeting rigorous standards are used in production, which reduces the risk of malfunction.
Regulatory and Compliance Standards
Several regulations govern how nonconforming material is handled, especially in the aerospace and defense industries:
- AS9100
- The Federal Acquisition Regulation
- The International Traffic in Arms Regulations
- The National Aerospace and Defense Contractors Accreditation Program requirements
The Role of Quality Management Systems
Quality management systems (QMS) provide a structured approach to quality assurance, playing a central role in controlling nonconforming materials. Regulatory standards like AS9100 require organizations to have a robust QMS that includes:
- Documented procedures
- Auditing and continuous improvement
- Identification and segregation processes
- Corrective and preventive action
Steps for Managing Nonconformities
When nonconformities arise, understanding how to identify and address them is crucial.
1. Identify the Nonconforming Material
Inspections, quality audits, testing and customer feedback are all sources that help identify nonconforming materials, which are documented in nonconformance reports (NCR). NCRs are digital tools that document instances of nonconforming material. They provide details such as the nature of the defect, lot number, location and corrective actions taken in response for future reference.
2. Take Immediate Corrective Actions
When possible, take immediate action thru separation of the nonconforming product, and red tagging the part to identify their status and reason. The nonconforming material is segregated from other production lines during this step to prevent further distribution or use.
3. Conduct a Root Cause Analysis
It is essential to understand why the nonconformance occurred. There are two types of nonconformance. Minor nonconformance, like a part marking, has a low impact on product or service quality. Major nonconformance greatly affects an organization’s production process. Examples include dimensional issues or improper (or outdated) material utilization.
Root cause analysis (RCA) programs like failure mode and effects analysis or fishbone diagrams can be used to identify the underlying cause of the issue. For transparency, keeping detailed records of the RCA process is essential.
4. Develop an Action Plan
The RCA provides the foundation for corrective actions that aim to eliminate the root cause and prevent recurrence. These actions can include training employees on new procedures or changing a product’s design to eliminate misassembly. The documented action plan contains details on the corrective action, timelines, required resources and the responsibilities assigned to monitor the implementation.
5. Monitor and Follow Up
Assign a working group to monitor the progress of the corrective actions. This step may include partnering with a third-party service provider to follow up on necessary changes through internal audits or monitoring KPIs. All nonconformance documentation must be integrated into the QMS for centralized tracking and easy retrieval during audits.
Utilizing Quality Metrics
By tracking quality metrics, organizations can determine how often nonconformities occur, understand their causes and be more proactive about improvements. Key metrics to monitor include:
- Nonconformance rate: This is the percentage of materials that fail to meet quality standards, calculated as nonconforming items, divided by the total number of items produced or inspected.
- Cost of quality: Track the costs associated with preventing, detecting and correcting nonconforming materials.
- Defect density: This is the number of defects found per unit of material or production lot. It helps locate problem areas in the process.
- First pass yield: This is the percentage of products that meet quality standards without requiring rework or repairs.
- Return material authorization (RMA) rate: The RMA indicates the frequency of returns due to nonconformance, giving insight into customer satisfaction.
- Corrective action response time: This measures the time it takes to identify, address and resolve nonconformance issues to determine the efficiency of the corrective action process.
Implementing Preventive Measures
Implementing preventive measures is a proactive approach to quality management. These measures focus on anticipating potential challenges and using specific controls to mitigate them. They may include a risk assessment analysis, prioritizing risks based on their likelihood, severity or impact. Alternatively, organizations may implement standard operating procedures with regular updates and clear guidelines, reducing manufacturing variation and implementing checklists at each production stage.
Training employees on best practices, new procedures and quality standards is crucial to avoiding errors. Cross-training can also help ensure employees can manage tasks consistently, even in the absence of key personnel.
Organizations should also engage with suppliers to confirm that raw components and materials meet quality requirements. This can reduce spending on correcting quality concerns. Building a strong supplier relationship and implementing vendor quality agreements can prevent nonconforming materials from reaching production lines.
Boost Compliance and Product Quality With NTS Unitek
Controlling nonconforming material is essential to maintaining quality standards and preventing defective products from reaching customers. Using tools like NCRs, consulting root cause analysis, implementing corrective actions and partnering with a third-party supplier can help your organization find, manage and prevent nonconforming materials from negatively impacting production.
For over 50 years, NTS Unitek has helped organizations in various industries maintain their QMS compliance, monitor product verification and evaluate their quality assurance systems. We partner closely with your organization, acting as an extension while supporting your global quality assurance needs. Contact us today to take the next step toward success in your supplier performance management.
