Title: What Is an NCR and CAPA URL: https://zudoworks.com/answers/what-is-an-ncr-and-capa/ Description: NCR and CAPA explained: a non-conformance report records a defect; corrective and preventive action fixes the cause. How small shops run both simply. Updated: 2026-11-03 # What are an NCR and a CAPA? An NCR, non-conformance report, records that a part, material or process failed to meet a requirement: what was found, how many, where, and what was done with the affected items. A CAPA, corrective and preventive action, is the follow-up that finds the cause, fixes it and stops it recurring. The NCR is the incident record; the CAPA is the improvement record linked to it. By Arunkumar V, CTO · 03 November 2026 · 3 min read [Try ZMOS free](https://app.zudoworks.com/signup) [Book a 20-minute demo](https://zudoworks.com/contact/) - non-conformance report - corrective and preventive action - NCR meaning in quality - CAPA process ## What goes in an NCR Keep the NCR short and factual. Its job is to contain the problem and record the decision. The analysis belongs in the CAPA, and not every NCR needs one. Three bent flanges on one job need an NCR and a rework; the same defect on five jobs in a month needs a CAPA. - Item, job or work order, lot and quantity affected - What the requirement was and what was found, with measurements and photos - Where it was detected: incoming, in process, final or at the customer - Disposition: rework, use as is with concession, scrap, return to supplier - Who raised it, who decided the disposition, and when - Cost of the non-conformance, if known ## What goes in a CAPA A CAPA starts with a problem statement drawn from one or more NCRs. It records containment, the immediate action that stops the defect reaching customers. It records root cause, found by a method such as five whys or a fishbone diagram and checked against evidence rather than opinion. It records the corrective action that removes that cause, with an owner and a date, and the preventive action that stops the same cause appearing elsewhere. It ends with verification: after the fix, whether the defect stopped. ISO 9001 clause 10.2 asks for the same cycle: react, evaluate the need to eliminate the cause, act, and review effectiveness. ## Running NCR and CAPA in a 10 to 50 person shop The failure mode in small shops is not lack of a procedure but a procedure nobody uses: a form in a drawer, a register updated before the audit. The fix is to make the NCR the easiest thing in the shop to raise. A phone photo, the job number, a quantity and a one-line description are enough to open it; the quality lead can fill in the rest. Link the NCR to the job and the item so it shows in the job's history and the supplier's record. Review open NCRs weekly in a ten-minute stand-up. Open a CAPA only when a pattern appears, and limit open CAPAs to what the shop can actually close. ## NCR, CAPA and the rest of the system An NCR should block the affected quantity from shipping until a disposition is recorded. Scrap dispositions should post a stock movement and a cost to the job, so the job cost tells the truth. Supplier NCRs should count against the vendor so purchasing sees them when placing the next order. Concessions should be signed by someone with authority and attached to the delivery. When the quality records live in the same system as stock, jobs and purchasing, those links are a matter of configuration. When they live in a separate quality app or a binder, each link is a manual step that is skipped under pressure. ## Where ZMOS fits ZMOS includes quality records in the same workspace as stock, work orders and purchasing: inspections with photos and signatures, and NCRs and CAPA linked to items and jobs. Workflow rules can fire on status changes, for example to hold a work order while an NCR is open, and custom fields can carry a customer's own disposition codes. Every change is in the audit log. It is built for sheet-metal, machining and fabrication shops of 10 to 50 people. It is not a dedicated QMS: for document control, calibration schedules and full IATF 16949 or medical-device workflows, pair it with a system built for that. [What ZMOS does](https://zudoworks.com/zmos/) - [NCR and CAPA in ZMOS](https://zudoworks.com/zmos/quality/) - [workflow rules on status changes](https://zudoworks.com/zmos/low-code/) - [purchasing and vendor records](https://zudoworks.com/zmos/purchasing/) ## People also ask Short answers, each one complete on its own. ### Related answers - [How do I run quality inspections in a small shop?](https://zudoworks.com/answers/how-to-run-quality-inspections/) - [What is lot traceability in manufacturing?](https://zudoworks.com/answers/what-is-lot-traceability/) - [How do I handle scrap in production?](https://zudoworks.com/answers/how-to-handle-scrap-in-production/) - [What is a work order in manufacturing?](https://zudoworks.com/answers/what-is-a-work-order/) - [What is a routing and a work centre?](https://zudoworks.com/answers/what-is-a-routing-and-work-centre/) - [What is WIP inventory?](https://zudoworks.com/answers/what-is-wip-inventory/) - [What is a manufacturing ERP?](https://zudoworks.com/answers/what-is-a-manufacturing-erp/) - [All 54 answers](https://zudoworks.com/answers/) ### Inside ZMOS [Zudo AI](https://zudoworks.com/zudo-ai/)[Stock ledger](https://zudoworks.com/zmos/stock-ledger/)[Low-code forms and rules](https://zudoworks.com/zmos/low-code/)[Barcode job cards](https://zudoworks.com/zmos/barcode-job-cards/)[Roles, audit log, API](https://zudoworks.com/zmos/roles-audit-api/)[Security](https://zudoworks.com/zmos/security/)[Free trial](https://zudoworks.com/zmos/free-trial/)[Why Zudo Works](https://zudoworks.com/why-zudo-works/) What is the difference between an NCR and a CAPA? An NCR records a single non-conformance and its disposition. A CAPA is the structured investigation and fix for a cause, often raised from several NCRs. Every CAPA points back to one or more NCRs; most NCRs are closed by a disposition and never need a CAPA. What is the difference between corrective and preventive action? Corrective action removes the cause of a non-conformance that has happened. Preventive action removes a cause that could produce one, before it does. ISO 9001:2015 folded preventive action into risk-based thinking, but the term CAPA remains common in quality systems and software. Does every defect need an NCR? Every defect that reaches a decision point, such as rework, scrap, concession or return, should have one, however short. Defects corrected by the operator within the operation, such as a re-cut before any part leaves the machine, are usually tracked as scrap on the job instead. What is a disposition? The decision about what happens to non-conforming items: rework to specification, repair to a concession, use as is with customer approval, scrap, or return to the supplier. It is recorded on the NCR with who authorised it, and it drives the stock and cost posting that follows.