Bend the rules,
not your record.
Sometimes you must ship the part, run the line, deviate from the spec. Concessions, deviations, and time-bound exemptions get a proper home — with risk-tier approval routing, expiry, scope, and a full audit trail. The exception becomes evidence, not a liability.
Hardness 8 HRC below spec on lot LH-2104 — accept-as-is for non-critical bracket
Three kinds of exception. One module.
Concessions, deviations, and time-bound exemptions each have their own behavior — and a single, consistent place to live.
Concession
Material that doesn’t meet spec, accepted as-is for a specific use. Per-lot, quantity-bounded, customer-aware.
Deviation
Process or procedure executed differently from documented practice for a specific reason. Time-bound, reversion to nominal required.
Time-bound exemption
A team, site, or product temporarily exempted from a control until a date. Auto-expires; renewal needs fresh justification and approval.
The bigger the bend, the more eyes.
Configure approval chains by risk tier. Low-risk concessions ship with QA sign-off. High-risk go to engineering authority, customer liaison, and site director — in that order, in parallel where possible. The chain is part of the record, not a side-channel email.
Expiry isn't an afterthought. It's the point.
Every exemption has an expiry — not a hopeful 'we'll fix it' note. Expired records lock; the team is reminded 14, 7, and 1 day before. Renewal is its own approval workflow with fresh justification. Drift becomes visible long before the audit asks.
The boring stuff that makes audits boring.
Scope, linkage, traceability, and reporting — the things that turn a concession into evidence.
Linked to NCRs, MOCs, customer waivers
An exemption rarely stands alone. Link the originating NCR, the customer waiver PDF, the MOC raised to prevent recurrence — one click from the exemption, the whole story.
Quantity, lot, and unit scope
Concessions can be bounded to a specific lot, count, or serial range. Exceed the scope and the system rejects further use against the same exemption.
Trends across customers and processes
Are you bending the same rule for the same customer every quarter? The exemption register surfaces patterns your monthly NCR review used to miss.
Auditor-ready in one export
When an auditor asks for 'all current concessions and their justifications', it's a one-click filtered PDF with every linked record. Not a panicked SharePoint dive.
Make every exception a record, not a risk.
Stop letting concessions and deviations live in email. Give them a home with proper approval, expiry, and traceability.