A concession is a decision to accept or release product that has already been made and does not meet a requirement, because the people with authority judge it fit for use. It is made after the fact, usually through a nonconformance report and a material review, and it covers only the identified parts or lot. A concession records what is wrong, why the product is still acceptable, any limits on its use and who approved it, which for customer requirements usually means the customer. Some companies call it a waiver or a use-as-is disposition.
Example: An inspector finds 30 housings with a scratch outside the allowed limit on a face that is hidden in assembly. The NCR goes to review, engineering confirms the scratch does not affect function or sealing, the customer signs a concession for those 30 parts only, and the lot ships with the concession number on its paperwork.
Concessions keep usable parts from being scrapped, but each one is evidence that the process made something wrong. A rising number of concessions is a signal to fix the cause through corrective action, and auditors check that every concession had the proper approval.
COPLAIN AI PLATFORM
Upload your existing procedures and Coplain AI drafts audit-ready work instructions, job aids and forms from them.
Generate yours automatically with Coplain →Related Tools & Templates