Quality Issues (NCR)

The Quality Issues module (also called NCR — Nonconformity Record) is the heart of your corrective and preventive action system. It tracks nonconformities, corrective action requests, preventive actions, observations for improvement, customer complaints, and supplier corrective action requests.

Quality issues list showing NCRs with priority, status, and assignment

Sidebar location: Core Quality > Quality Issues

NCR List

The list view offers two display modes — toggle between them using the view switcher:

List View (Table)

A standard data table with these columns:

Column	Description
Code	Auto-generated identifier (e.g., "NCR-001")
Title	Issue title (clickable)
Type	Badge showing the NCR type (NCR, CAR, PAR, OFI, Complaint, SCAR)
Source	Where the issue was identified (Audit, Customer, Supplier, etc.)
Priority	Color-coded: Critical (red), High (orange), Medium (blue), Low (gray)
Status	Current workflow stage
Assigned To	Team member responsible
Due Date	Target resolution date
Actions	View, Edit, Delete

Kanban View

A visual board with columns representing each workflow stage. NCR cards can be viewed across the stages:

Open → Investigation → Action Planned → In Progress → Verification → Closed → Archived

Each card shows the NCR code, title, priority indicator, assignee avatar, and due date.

List Metrics (Top of Page)

Metric	Description
Active NCRs	Total open (unresolved) quality issues
High Priority	Count of high and critical priority issues
Overdue	Issues past their due date
Avg. Resolution	Average time to close NCRs (in days)

Filters

• Type — NCR, CAR, PAR, OFI, Complaint, SCAR
• Status — Open, Investigation, Action Planned, In Progress, Verification, Closed, Archived
• Priority — Low, Medium, High, Critical

Creating a New NCR

1. Click "New Quality Issue" (or use the Quick Action on the Dashboard)
2. Fill in the form:

Core Fields:

Field	Description	Required
Title	Brief summary of the issue (max 200 characters)	Yes
Type	NCR, CAR, PAR, OFI, Complaint, or SCAR (see Appendix C)	Yes
Source	How the issue was identified: Audit, Customer, Supplier, Process, Inspection, Calibration, KPI, or Manual	Yes
Priority	Low, Medium, High, or Critical	Yes
Description	Detailed description of the nonconformity (min. 20 characters, max 5000). Use the AI Suggest button for assistance.	Yes

Assignment:

Field	Description	Required
Process	Link to the affected process	No
Assigned To	Team member responsible for investigation/resolution	No
Due Date	Target date for resolution	No
Cost of Quality	Estimated financial impact (numeric, in your organization's currency)	No

Conditional Fields:

Field	Shown When	Description
Customer Name	Source = Customer	Name of the complaining customer
Customer Email	Source = Customer	Customer's email address
Supplier	Source = Supplier or Type = SCAR	Select the related supplier

3. Click "Log Issue" to create the NCR

NCR Workflow (7 Stages)

Every NCR progresses through a structured 7-stage workflow. Each stage has specific required fields that must be completed before advancing.

Stage 1: Open

The NCR has been logged. The description and basic information are recorded.

• What to do: Review the issue, assign it to an investigator, and begin investigation
• Advance to next stage: Click "Begin Investigation"

Stage 2: Investigation

Determine the root cause of the nonconformity.

Field	Description	Required
Root Cause	Detailed root cause analysis (min. 20 characters)	Yes
Root Cause Method	Analysis method used: 5-Why, Fishbone (Ishikawa), Fault Tree, Pareto, FMEA, or Other	Yes
Containment Action	Any immediate actions taken to contain the issue	No

• Advance to next stage: Click "Save & Plan Actions"

Stage 3: Action Planned

Define the corrective and preventive actions to address the root cause.

Field	Description	Required
Corrective Action	Actions to eliminate the root cause and prevent recurrence (min. 20 characters)	Yes
Preventive Action	Actions to prevent similar issues in other areas (min. 20 characters)	Yes

• Advance to next stage: Click "Save & Begin Implementation"

Stage 4: In Progress

The planned actions are being implemented. No additional fields are required at this stage — this is a working stage where the assigned person carries out the corrective and preventive actions.

• Advance to next stage: Move to verification when implementation is complete

Stage 5: Verification

Verify that the corrective actions were effective and the root cause has been eliminated.

Field	Description	Required
Verification Evidence	Evidence that the corrective actions worked (min. 20 characters). Describe how effectiveness was verified.	Yes

• Advance to next stage: Click "Save & Verify & Close"

Stage 6: Closed

The NCR is resolved. Add final closure notes.

Field	Description	Required
Closure Notes	Final summary and lessons learned	Yes
Customer Satisfaction Rating	Rating 1-5 (only shown if the source was "Customer")	No

• Final action: Click "Archive" to move to the archived state

Stage 7: Archived

The NCR is complete and archived for historical reference. All information is read-only.

NCR Detail Page

The detail page is organized in tabs:

Tab	Content
Overview	Current status, metadata, timeline, and key information at a glance
Stages	The stage-specific form for the current workflow stage (Investigation, Action Planned, etc.)
Metadata	Impact assessment, cost of quality tracking, additional categorization
Comments	Threaded discussion — team members can leave comments and updates
Attachments	Upload and manage evidence files (photos, reports, test results)
Linked Items	Cross-references to related documents, risks, change requests, audits, etc.
Audit Trail	Complete field-level change history

AI Form Assist

When creating or editing an NCR, you will see an AI Suggest button (sparkle icon) next to the Description field. Click it to get AI-powered suggestions for describing the nonconformity based on the type and source you selected.