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Issues
Table of Contents
An issue records a problem discovered during manufacturing, inspection, testing, or maintenance. It connects the problem to the affected work and inventory, contains the affected product with holds, records the reviewed disposition decision for each affected record, and tracks the remedy work required to resolve it.
Issues are part of the same system of record as the work they describe. An issue raised from a task already knows the task, the work order, and the unit being built, and every change to an issue is recorded in history alongside the records it affects.
Issue kinds
Every issue has one of two kinds:
- NCR (nonconformance report) records a nonconforming output: product that does not meet a requirement, or work performed against a requirement, such as the wrong torque applied, an inspection skipped, or the wrong revision used. NCRs require a disposition for every affected record.
- Observation records anything else worth tracking, such as a documentation error, a process concern, or a hazard. An observation is closed with a resolution note.
The person raising an issue chooses its kind. It defaults to NCR when the issue is raised from inventory or places a hold on a task. A problem with work alone is an NCR even before anyone knows which product it affected.
Inventory may only be linked to an NCR. Linking inventory to an observation asks to convert it to an NCR first.
An observation may still hold a task, for example to stop work at a station until a hazard is fixed. Closing the observation releases the hold.
The kind can be switched in either direction until the first disposition is submitted, and each switch is recorded in the issue's history. An NCR can return to being an observation only while no inventory remains in its affected records.
Issue numbers
Every issue is numbered in one sequence, such as ISS-12, in the same way work orders are numbered WO-12. An issue keeps its number for good, and switching its kind never changes it. The kind is shown as a badge beside the number.
Numbers are not gapless: the NCR register skips the numbers that observations took. Issues are never deleted, so no number disappears from the record.
Raising an issue
Anyone in the organization may raise an issue. Recording a problem should never wait on finding someone with the right role. Deciding what happens to affected product requires the Disposition or Design authority permission, depending on the disposition type.
An issue can be raised from:
- A task. The task and its work order are linked automatically. Choose NCR for work performed against a requirement, or observation for a problem such as an unclear instruction. The unit the work order builds, and the inventory installed on the task, are offered as optional affected records. Selecting one on an observation asks to make the issue an NCR.
- Inventory. The inventory line is linked as an affected record, and the issue is an NCR. For a lot or untracked line, enter a nonconforming quantity to split that quantity off and link only the split piece, leaving the rest of the line free to continue.
- The Issues page. Start with a title and description, for problems not tied to a particular record.
- A plugin. A plugin may raise and link issues, for example when a recorded value falls outside an acceptable range.
An issue starts with a kind, a title, and a description. Its owner is the person responsible for driving it to completion. The owner defaults to the person who raised it and may be changed at any time.
Affected records
An affected record is a task, work order, or inventory line linked to an issue. One issue may affect many records, which supports problems that affect a whole batch, a lot, several lots, or every unit built with the same equipment.
- Tasks may be placed on hold and receive a disposition.
- Inventory lines are placed on hold and receive a disposition. Inventory may only be linked to an NCR.
- Work orders are references only. They show the issue on the work order and in its history, but are not held or dispositioned. Link the specific tasks or the unit being built to contain them.
Inventory linked to an open issue cannot be merged, held or not, since a merged line could no longer be told apart from the product it joined.
An affected record cannot be unlinked while it is on hold or has a disposition. A record linked by mistake is resolved with the False nonconformance disposition instead, so the mistake stays visible on the record.
Affected records follow splits
When an affected inventory line is split, both resulting lines become affected records of the issue, and each carries its own hold. The original record is kept as the source of both pieces. Factorial never lets part of a suspect lot leave containment by being split away from the record that contains it.
Holds
A hold stops a record from being used until the issue resolves it. Holds are how an issue enforces containment: conforming and nonconforming product cannot be mixed, and suspect work cannot quietly continue.
- A held task cannot start or complete. Its work order cannot be completed. See work order holds.
- Held inventory cannot be installed, consumed, merged, or split, cannot have a new work order created on it, and is not counted as stock by clear to build. Uninstalling held inventory is allowed, since removing a suspect part is part of containing it. The hold stays on the inventory after it is uninstalled.
- Nothing can be installed into held inventory, or into inventory with held inventory installed in it at any depth. Inventory with held inventory installed in it, at any depth, cannot be installed or consumed either. A hold contains the whole as-built structure around the suspect part.
- A work order cannot be completed while held inventory is anywhere in the as-built structure of the unit it builds, at any depth. A suspect bracket installed into a subassembly that is installed into a vehicle blocks completion of the vehicle's work order as well as the subassembly's.
The issue itself is allowed to act on its held inventory. Splitting off a nonconforming quantity, splitting a suspect lot into pieces that receive different dispositions, and the remedy work an approved disposition requires are all permitted while the hold remains.
Issue holds are released only by the issue:
- by applying an approved disposition,
- by completing the remedy that a rework or repair disposition requires,
- by an approved cancellation, or
- by closing an observation, which releases the task holds it placed.
Issue holds cannot be released by hand. Every hold placed and released is recorded with who did it, when, and why.
Holds on tools, locations, and shipments are planned. Tools, inventory locations, and shipping will be held through issues in the same way when they are added to Factorial.
Dispositions
A disposition is the decision about what happens to one affected record. Every affected task and inventory line on an NCR needs one.
Disposition types
Each disposition has a type. A disposition type has a name, a base behavior, and the permission required to approve and apply it. The base behavior decides what applying the disposition does, so every type with the same base behavior acts the same way on holds and inventory. Factorial provides six base behaviors:
| Base behavior | Applies to | Effect when applied |
|---|---|---|
| Rework | Tasks, inventory | Bring the record back to the requirement through a remedy. The hold stays until the remedy is complete. |
| Repair | Tasks, inventory | Make the record usable through a remedy, even though it will still not fully meet the requirement. The hold stays until the remedy is complete. |
| Use as is | Tasks, inventory | Accept the record without further work. The hold is released and a permanent Used as is flag stays on the record and every piece split from it. |
| Scrap | Inventory | The inventory is scrapped and can never be used again. |
| Return to vendor | Inventory | The inventory is marked Returned and can never be used again. |
| False nonconformance | Tasks, inventory | The record conforms, was linked by mistake, or the problem was not real. The hold is released. |
Every organization starts with one disposition type for each base behavior, plus Accept, a false nonconformance type for suspect records found to conform, such as the good pieces of a suspect lot. Use as is and repair accept product that does not meet its requirement, so their types require the Design authority permission. The other types require the Disposition permission. Administrators can add, rename, and archive types in organization settings. See permissions for both.
Each disposition requires a justification.
Customer approval
Some contracts require the customer to approve a use as is or repair disposition. Mark such a disposition Customer approval required and attach the customer's approval, with its reference if there is one. A disposition marked this way cannot be approved until the approval is attached. A plugin may require customer approval for particular parts or customers, and a requirement set by a plugin cannot be cleared by hand.
Disposition review
Each disposition is proposed and reviewed on its own record. Several dispositions may be submitted for review together, but each is approved and applied separately. This lets a team scrap the obviously bad pieces today and decide on the rest next week, with each decision reviewed on its own record.
Dispositions follow the same review workflow as redlines and procedure revisions:
- A disposition starts as a Draft, where its type, justification, and customer approval can be edited.
- Submit for review freezes the disposition and starts a review cycle.
- Reviewers approve, request changes, or comment. Only reviews from users with the permission its type requires count, and approvals from the person who proposed or submitted it never count.
- The number of approvals a disposition needs is set by the disposition review policy.
- Once a disposition has enough approvals and no outstanding change requests, someone with the permission its type requires selects Apply. Applying carries out the disposition, as described in the table above.
Approvals are the disposition's signatures. Each records the approver, the roles they held when they approved, and when. This answers the audit question of who approved a disposition and whether they were authorized to.
A suspect lot can be split and dispositioned in one step: enter the quantity for each disposition, such as 6 rework and 4 scrap, and Factorial splits the inventory and proposes one disposition for each resulting piece.
Remedies
A remedy is the controlled work that a rework or repair disposition requires. A remedy may:
- Change the affected task's content through a redline.
- Add a task to the affected work order through a redline. The new task may block the originating task or another task in that work order.
- Create a work order from a released procedure, built on the held inventory.
- Create an ad hoc project for work that does not yet have a controlled procedure. The project keeps its link to the issue and can later be promoted to a repeatable procedure.
Remedy work is exempt from the issue's own holds, so the held inventory can be reworked without releasing it first. The hold is released when the remedy is complete. One remedy may cover several affected records, and one issue may have several remedies.
Attachments
Photos, measurements, inspection reports, and other files may be attached to an issue as evidence of the nonconformance and of how it was resolved. A customer's approval of a disposition is attached the same way. Removing an attachment hides it from the issue but never deletes it: the file, who removed it, and when stay in the issue's history.
Escapes
An escape is nonconforming product that has already shipped to a customer. Record an escape on the NCR when the customer is notified, with the customer, the affected units, when they were notified, and who notified them. Attach the notice and any reply. Escapes are recorded by hand, and every escape stays on the NCR and in its history.
Lifecycle
An NCR moves through these statuses:
- Open: the problem is recorded and being investigated.
- Dispositioning: at least one disposition has been submitted for review, and some affected records still need an applied disposition.
- Remedy: every affected record has an applied disposition, and remedy work is still in progress.
- Closed: every affected record has an applied disposition and every remedy is complete. Factorial closes the NCR automatically when this is true.
- Canceled: the NCR was canceled. It stays in the NCR register.
Observations move from Open to Closed. They may still have remedy projects. Anyone may close an observation with a resolution note. The issue's history records who closed it and why.
Canceling an NCR
Canceling an NCR requires a reason and goes through the same review as a disposition. Only reviews from users with the Disposition permission count. Applying an approved cancellation releases the NCR's holds. An NCR cannot be canceled once any disposition has been applied; resolve the remaining records with dispositions instead. A canceled NCR stays in the NCR register with its reason.
Issues page
The Issues page lists every issue with its number, kind, status, owner, number of affected records, and age. Filter by kind, status, or owner. The NCR register lists every NCR by number, ready to print.
Open an issue to see its description, owner, affected records with each record's hold, disposition, and remedy, its attachments, and its escapes.
Issue history
The issue page shows a history of everything that happened to the issue and to its affected records, with a link to every related record. This includes holds placed and released, records linked and split, dispositions reviewed and applied, and the work and inventory activity on the affected records before and after the issue was raised. Switch to This issue only to hide the affected records' own activity. See History for how events are recorded.
Affected tasks, work orders, and inventory lines show their issues on their own pages, so the issue becomes part of each unit's permanent history.
Planned
Dispositions and disposition review, attachments, escapes, remedies, NCR cancellation, and plugin support for issues are being built in stages and are not yet available. Until dispositions are available, issues can be raised and linked but cannot place holds. Affected records are linked when the issue is raised, or through the API. Linking more records to an existing issue from its page, with pickers or by scanning barcodes, is planned.
The following are also planned:
- Corrective and preventive action (CAPA) records linked to one or more NCRs, with a root cause, actions with owners, and an effectiveness check before closing.
- A printable NCR report for a single issue.
- Holds on tools, locations, and shipments.
- Custom fields on issues.
- Comments on issues.
- Built-in defect codes, and Pareto and aging reports by defect code, part, and supplier.
- Supplier corrective action requests.
- A Kanban view of issues.