Totumfrog,
Did your customer agree to the exception? If so, I would contest the NC. You won't win of course but I would let them know you didn't agree with it.
All to often customer copy what another company spec'd out and never give it a thought. At one time the angle may have been important but that dimension doesn't carry the same importance. You never know.
IMHO I would look at this issue as a contract review miss rather than a feasibility review problem. I may be splitting hairs but more so than not a company knows what they can and can't make. This example is your core business and you gave a written exception on the PPAP (you see that a lot on Appearance Approval on roofs).
I once worked for a company that made pins and bushings for the locomotive industry and some of our prints were from the 1940's. When they updated the prints they just copied most of the call outs but some they made requirements fit newer technology. What was once a +/- 3 degrees on a chamfer now now became a +/- .5 degree. May not be an issue for a CNC machine but the equipment we had couldn't do it. We had to get an exception.
I often wonder what the auditors would do if they were dealing with the issues that the QC managers do everyday.
I feel a lot of the times they get too far removed from reality and live in that textbook standard world. Just like the B3 demanding zero defects from the suppliers but won't back it up on their vehicles.
If it was my system I wouldn't change how I did business because of 1 instance. We're all in the work place to help the company make money and it doesn't sound to me like this happens all the time. Do what you have to do to clear the NC and move on. Review your procedure and ensure it is a sound business practice. Chalk this up as a lesson learned and make it a possitive finding.
You don't get TS points for being a well liked, good quality, profitable company. They have to document findings like yours to show that suppliers really don't know what their doing. How dare you be great at making pulleys for years and miss that 1 dimension. Shame on you.
I'm working on a 5-Why today for a GM plant that found 1 defective piece out of a 156,000 piece order. I'm being debited for an in-plant sort that resulted in any no further findings and my customer was put on CS II. I have to supply 100% certified stock over the next 10 shipments (over 2 million parts) all because of 1 questionable part. And we wonder why the auto industry is in bad shape?
Yes, I'm a bit jaded this morning, I'll get over it.