Quality Management

Here's the draft for solutions/quality-management.md: markdown# Quality Management

MatStream provides a flexible foundation for managing quality records — non-conformances, corrective actions, audit findings, customer complaints, and any other quality-related item your organisation needs to track, approve, and resolve.

Because quality records are entities in MatStream, they are fully integrated with the rest of your data — linked directly to the specific part revisions, documents, suppliers, or processes they relate to.

What is quality management in MatStream?¶

Quality management in MatStream means treating quality records as first-class entities — with the same structured properties, lifecycle control, revision history, and relationship tracking as any other item in the platform.

This is what sets MatStream apart from standalone quality management systems: your non-conformance is not an isolated record in a separate tool — it is linked directly to the exact part revision it affects, the supplier who supplied it, the work instruction that was not followed, and the corrective action raised to address it.

Everything is connected. Everything is traceable.

Typical quality entity types¶

Your administrator configures the quality entity types that match your organisation's quality management process. Common examples include:

Category	What it represents
Non-conformance (NCR)	A record of a product or process that does not meet requirements
Corrective action (CAPA)	A planned or completed action to address the root cause of a non-conformance
Audit finding	An observation or finding raised during an internal or external audit
Customer complaint	A complaint received from a customer, linked to the affected product
Supplier deviation	A formal request to accept material or parts outside specification
Inspection record	The result of an incoming, in-process, or final inspection

Each category carries the properties, lifecycle, and numbering scheme appropriate to that record type — all configured by your administrator.

Non-conformance management¶

A non-conformance (NCR) is the most common quality record type. In MatStream an NCR is an entity that captures:

What the non-conformance is — description, detection date, detection method
Where it was found — incoming inspection, in-process, final inspection, customer return
What it affects — linked directly to the specific part revision, batch, or assembly
Who is responsible — assigned to a user or group for disposition
How it was resolved — disposition decision, linked corrective action

NCR lifecycle¶

A typical NCR lifecycle in MatStream: Open → Under investigation → Disposition → Closed ↓ ↓ Escalated Rejected → Rework required

At each transition: - Only authorised groups can trigger the transition - The transition is permanently logged - Lifecycle state permissions control who can edit the record

Linking NCRs to affected items¶

The most powerful aspect of NCR management in MatStream is the ability to link the NCR directly to the entities it affects:

Affected part revision — the exact revision of the part that failed, not just the part number
Affected assembly — the assembly that contained the non-conforming part
Supplier — the supplier who provided the non-conforming material
Work instruction — the procedure that was not followed
Corrective action — the CAPA raised to address the root cause

These links are bidirectional. From the part record, you can instantly see all NCRs ever raised against any revision of that part — giving you a complete quality history for every item in your catalogue.

Corrective and preventive actions (CAPA)¶

A corrective action (CAPA) is an entity in MatStream that captures:

The root cause of the problem being addressed
The planned corrective action and target date
Who is responsible for implementing the action
Evidence of completion — attached files, linked records
Effectiveness review — was the action effective?

CAPA lifecycle¶

A typical CAPA lifecycle: Draft → In progress → Pending review → Closed — Effective ↓ Closed — Ineffective → New CAPA required

CAPAs are linked to the NCRs that triggered them — giving you full traceability from problem detection through root cause analysis to resolution and effectiveness review.

Audit management¶

Audit findings are entities in MatStream — linked to the audit they belong to, the process or document they relate to, and any corrective actions raised as a result.

A typical audit finding entity might carry:

Finding type (observation, minor non-conformance, major non-conformance)
Reference standard clause
Description of the finding
Linked process or document
Required corrective action — linked to a CAPA entity
Target closure date and actual closure date

Audit entities can also represent the audit itself — with findings linked as child entities, giving you a complete audit record in one place.

Customer complaint management¶

Customer complaints are entities in MatStream — linked to the affected product, the customer, and any NCRs or CAPAs raised in response.

A typical customer complaint workflow:

Complaint received and logged as an entity → Number assigned automatically: CC-2026-0034 → Linked to the affected product entity → Linked to the customer entity Initial assessment completed → Severity and priority properties filled in → Assigned to responsible engineer Investigation completed → Root cause identified → NCR raised if a product non-conformance is confirmed → CAPA raised if a systemic issue is identified Customer response issued → Response document attached as a file → Lifecycle transitions to Resolved Complaint closed → Effectiveness of resolution confirmed → Lifecycle transitions to Closed

Supplier quality management¶

Suppliers can be entities in MatStream — linked to the purchased parts they supply, the NCRs raised against their components, and any supplier deviation requests submitted to them.

This gives you a complete supplier quality record:

All purchased parts supplied by this supplier
All NCRs raised against components from this supplier
All approved deviations granted to this supplier
Supplier performance visible across the entire catalogue

Traceability across the quality system¶

The real power of quality management in MatStream is cross-domain traceability — the ability to follow a thread from any point in the quality system to any other: Customer complaint └── Linked to affected product revision └── Linked to non-conformance (NCR) └── Linked to affected part revision └── Linked to corrective action (CAPA) └── Linked to updated work instruction └── Linked to parts the instruction applies to

Every link is bidirectional and permanent. At any point you can navigate the full chain — from complaint to corrective action to updated procedure to affected parts — without leaving MatStream.

Quality records and document control¶

Quality management and document control work naturally together in MatStream. Quality records can be linked directly to the controlled documents they relate to:

An NCR linked to the work instruction that was not followed
A CAPA linked to the updated procedure that implements the fix
An audit finding linked to the quality manual clause it references

When a procedure is revised as a result of a corrective action, the link between the CAPA and the new document revision is maintained — giving you a complete corrective action closure record.

See Document Control for more details.

Satisfying QMS requirements¶

MatStream's quality management capability is designed to support the requirements of quality management standards such as ISO 9001. Specifically:

QMS requirement	How MatStream satisfies it
Non-conformances must be recorded and controlled	NCR entities with lifecycle control and audit trail
Root causes must be identified and addressed	CAPA entities linked to NCRs with effectiveness review
Corrective actions must be tracked to closure	CAPA lifecycle with closure state and linked evidence
Customer complaints must be managed	Customer complaint entities with full traceability
Records must be retained	Immutable version history and permanent transition log
Traceability must be maintained	Bidirectional links across all quality record types

Note

MatStream provides the technical foundation for quality management system compliance. Whether it satisfies your specific regulatory requirements depends on your industry, jurisdiction, and the way you configure and use the platform. Consult your quality manager or compliance advisor for guidance.

Who uses quality management in MatStream?¶

Role	How they use MatStream
Quality engineer	Creates and manages NCRs, CAPAs, and audit findings
Production engineer	Raises NCRs for in-process non-conformances
Supplier quality manager	Manages supplier NCRs and deviation requests
Quality manager	Reviews and approves dispositions, monitors open actions
Management	Views quality performance data and open action status
Administrator	Configures quality entity categories and lifecycles

Getting started with quality management in MatStream¶

Configure quality categories — define your NCR, CAPA, and other quality record types. See Categories.
Configure lifecycle definitions — define your quality approval workflows. See Lifecycle.
Configure numbering schemes — define your quality record numbering templates. See Numbering schemes.
Set up user groups — define who can raise, review, and close quality records. See Users & groups.
Link to your engineering data — connect quality records to the parts, documents, and suppliers they relate to.

Next steps¶

Inventory Management — manage products, stock, and supplier data alongside your quality records
Document Control — manage controlled documents linked to your quality records
PLM — manage engineering parts and assemblies
Core concepts — the building blocks of the platform