Handling deviations

Two kinds of deviation

A deviation is any difference between what was agreed and what is proposed or built. Invitrona distinguishes two kinds:

• Departures at proposal stage: where the proposed configuration does not meet a clause of the customer's specification, for example a different termination arrangement or a different tapping range
• Nonconformities during manufacture or inspection: where a material, part or finished unit does not meet its agreed configuration or acceptance criterion

Both are recorded. Neither is resolved informally.

Departures in a proposal

A proposal that departs from a specification lists each departure with the clause concerned, what is offered instead, and the reason. The customer accepts, rejects or asks for an alternative before the order. Departures that are accepted become part of the agreed configuration and appear in the order documents. A departure buried in general wording is not a departure the customer has agreed to.

Nonconformities

When an inspection finds that something does not meet its requirement, the item is identified and held so that it cannot be used or dispatched by mistake. The nonconformity is recorded with what was found, where and when. A decision is then taken:

1. Rework to meet the original requirement, followed by re-inspection
2. Replace the material or part
3. Use as is, only where the difference does not affect the agreed requirement and, where the customer's requirement is affected, only with the customer's written agreement

The decision, the person responsible and the verification after correction are recorded against the unit or batch.

Learning from deviations

Repeated deviations of the same kind indicate a cause in the design, the material, the process or the requirement itself. They are reviewed together, so that the cause is corrected rather than each occurrence. Changes that result follow controlling changes.

Departures found after order

Sometimes a departure appears only after the order: a material becomes unavailable, a site condition differs from the drawing, or a detail cannot be built as approved. These are handled in the same way as departures at proposal stage. The departure is described, its effect on the agreed requirement is stated, and the customer decides before work proceeds on the changed basis. The order record and drawings are then revised.

Questions you can ask

• Which clauses of the specification does the proposal not meet?
• What happens if a nonconformity affects my configuration?
• How will I be told about a departure found after order?

What this means for a buyer

You see departures before you commit, and you are asked before any nonconformity that affects your requirement is accepted. The record of what was decided stays with the unit.