Are Nonconformance inputs to the product also NC product?

Our product is a written report

8.3 of 9001 states ..... that product which does not conform to product requirements is identified and controlled to prevent its unintended use or delivery.

Our reports that do not conform (containing errors) are simply re-edited until they are right, but what about the inputs to the product (report) such as data that is lost or destroyed upon which the report is based. Should this also be treated as non-conforming product?

Re: Are NC inputs to the product also NC product?

It is a non-conforming part that contributes to your product rendering it non-conforming. It may be a non-conforming product of a supplier, if supplied to you from outside of your process, or a NC output (aka sub-assembly in work in process inventory) from one of your processes.
Any way you look at it, it is a NC entity and must be so handled such that its status is identified and is prevented from getting into your product.

Re: Are NC inputs to the product also NC product?

kgott said:

Our product is a written report

8.3 of 9001 states ..... that product which does not conform to product requirements is identified and controlled to prevent its unintended use or delivery.

Our reports that do not conform (containing errors) are simply re-edited until they are right, but what about the inputs to the product (report) such as data that is lost or destroyed upon which the report is based. Should this also be treated as non-conforming product?

Click to expand...

Your product is actually the contents of the report. The written report is a medium you choose to present your report. It can also be in electronic (soft copy) format.

You are right that data are inputs to your final product which is the report and professional reports need to be back up by data or other supporting documents. A report with missing data to back up is nonconforming and the missing data is the root cause of this NC.

Re: Are NC inputs to the product also NC product?

Sorry people. I don’t think I explained things adequately. If one of our reports contains errors then its non-conforming, no issue there.


Suppose however; some of our data which is used as the basis of our report got lost destroyed, corrupted, otherwise in-complete or obtained using a piece of measurement equipment that was out of calibration etc.


Would that data (a component incorporated into the final product) also be, non-conforming product?


Commonsense tells me it must be and I thing but I'm being told that it’s not as only the final report sent to the client is the product and that only product sent to the customer can be non-conforming.


I think somashekar is right

thanks

Somashekar is correct. If yoru inputs (data) are not correct you must prevetn their use in the final product (report) as this would make the product nonconforming. It is the same as how nonconforming raw material must be treated in traditional manufacturing. inputs and outputs can be nonconfomring and are subject to identification and control.

Re: Are NC inputs to the product also NC product?

kgott said:

Sorry people. I don’t think I explained things adequately. If one of our reports contains errors then its non-conforming, no issue there.


Suppose however; some of our data which is used as the basis of our report got lost destroyed, corrupted, otherwise in-complete or obtained using a piece of measurement equipment that was out of calibration etc.


Would that data (a component incorporated into the final product) also be, non-conforming product?


Commonsense tells me it must be and I thing but I'm being told that it’s not as only the final report sent to the client is the product and that only product sent to the customer can be non-conforming.


I think somashekar is right

thanks

Click to expand...

If the data or the results are either not valid, or not mathematically correct, then they should not be used. It violates the 7th foundational principle in ISO 9001 - good decision making bsed on accurate data.

I don't think I would complicate things by worry about calling it NC, unless that is needed to persuade the rest of the management that it cannot be used. Just correct it, or mark the part that is incorrect.

Maybe
If doing a NC report (as kgott question-scenario,) would root cause be missing data as stated by harry, or would root cause be the reason why the data is missing or possibly an additional why?

Fender1 said:

Maybe
If doing a NC report (as kgott question-scenario,) would root cause be missing data as stated by harry, or would root cause be the reason why the data is missing or possibly an additional why?

Click to expand...

Missing data is part of the problem statement. WHY it is missing should be looked at to determine root cause.

Fender1 said:

Maybe
If doing a NC report (as kgott question-scenario,) would root cause be missing data as stated by harry, or would root cause be the reason why the data is missing or possibly an additional why?

Click to expand...

Helmut Jilling said:

Missing data is part of the problem statement. WHY it is missing should be looked at to determine root cause.

Click to expand...

Helmut is right. It should be the beginning of the RCA. I was sloppy with that sentence.

Thank you for the clarity.
I’m currently developing a quality system for my employer and have been researching NC handling, root cause investigation and CA reporting (learning a lot from the Cove.)
When reading the previous threads it is my thought that I’d gone further into the why…I often overthink things. Thanks again for helping my understanding.