Scrap and rework disposition
How a nonconforming item is reviewed and sent to rework, scrap, or use-as-is, with named sign-off on the decision.
Nonconforming material that gets quietly reworked or used as is without a recorded decision is an undocumented deviation, and it's the single finding auditors look hardest for. The real risk isn't the defect itself, it's a disposition made verbally, by whoever happened to be standing nearby, with no record of who decided or why.
- 1
Quality Inspector identifies the nonconforming material, stops its use, and applies a nonconformance tag stating the item, quantity, and defect found.
Quality Inspector
Tagging at the point of discovery is what stops a bad part re-entering the flow through a second, untagged handler.
- 2
Materials Handler moves the tagged material to a physically separate quarantine area or bin.
Materials Handler
Quarantine has to be physical, not just a note in a system, because whoever handles the material next often hasn't seen the system.
- 3
Quality Inspector checks whether the item can be traced to a specific lot, batch, work order, or supplier shipment.
Quality Inspector
Traceable: go to step 4
Not traceable: go to step 9
- 4
Quality Inspector records the nonconformance against the traceable lot or work order and identifies what else from that same lot is in stock or already shipped.
Quality Inspector
This is the step that determines whether the problem is one part or an entire batch already in a customer's hands.
- 5
Quality Manager reviews the nonconformance and decides disposition: rework to specification, use-as-is under a documented concession, or scrap.
Quality Manager
Rework: go to step 6
Use-as-is concession: go to step 7
Scrap: go to step 8
- 6
Line Supervisor arranges the rework to specification and submits the reworked item back to Quality Inspector for verification.
Line Supervisor
Submitted for verification: go to step 10
- 7
Quality Manager records the use-as-is concession with named sign-off and the specific reason it's acceptable, and notifies the customer if the concession affects a shipped requirement.
Quality Manager
A recorded sign-off is what separates a concession from someone deciding not to worry about it. That record is what an auditor asks for.
- 8
Materials Handler scraps the item following the scrap process, marking or destroying it to prevent reuse, and Quality Manager records the disposition and quantity.
Materials Handler
Physical destruction or marking matters because a scrapped part left in a general waste bin can be pulled back out and used.
- 9
Quality Manager investigates further to establish the item's origin using production or receiving records, and records why traceability failed.
Quality Manager
Origin established: go to step 4
Origin cannot be established: go to step 8
- 10
Quality Inspector re-inspects the reworked item against specification and confirms it now conforms.
Quality Inspector
Conforms: the procedure ends
Still nonconforming: go to step 5
Change these before you use it
- Name your actual scrap process and destruction or marking method.
- Define your concession approval authority: who can sign off use-as-is, and above what value or risk level it needs to go higher.
- Name your traceability system (lot tracking, work order system) referenced in steps 3 and 4.
- State how far the step 4 lot investigation has to reach: same shift, same day, or the full lot regardless of when it shipped.
- Decide whether a concession should automatically trigger a corrective action review, and name that process if so.
This is a starting point, not compliance advice. It is written to be adapted, and a procedure that touches access, money, or customer data needs to match how your business actually operates and whatever rules apply to you. Use it as a first draft to edit, not a policy to adopt.
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