Lessons Learned From Automation of Nonconformance Reporting (NCR) Process at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) Available to Purchase

The Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) Quality Performance and Assurance (QPA) Division was tasked with the opportunity to improve the NCR process and to support ASME NQA-1-2008 and ASME NQA-1A-2009; Quality Assurance Requirements for Nuclear Facility Applications [1] compliance. This process improvement plan involved input from NCR Coordinators, Engineering, Project Management, Facility Operations, Suspect Counterfeit Item Coordinators, and Waste Certifying Officials, among others. The focus of the project was to fully automate the NCR process through a phased systematic approach that would be useable to a wide audience. During the short and long-term automation process development for nuclear and non-nuclear facility nonconforming items, noteworthy benefits and lessons learned were identified and implemented.