# Manufacturing defects reported but never closed

> For the full documentation index, see https://250highstreet.com/llms.txt

> Defects get reported and then forgotten. Log each one in a SharePoint list with cause, owner and due date, and see open items past due.

Keep a non-conformance log as one SharePoint list, one row per defect, with title, cause, one owner, due date and status. Save a view of open rows past due and review it weekly. If you have an Excel log now, you can bring it into a new list instead of retyping.

This guide is about tracking. It does not tell you what your customers or your quality system require; ask your quality lead. Exact names may differ on your screen.

## Why defects stay open

Someone on the floor finds a bad part and tells a supervisor. The supervisor sends an email or writes a note. A week later the part is gone, the batch has shipped, and nobody remembers who was going to find the cause.

Common reasons a defect is never closed:

- No owner. "Quality will look at it" means nobody has it.
- No due date. A row with no date is never late.
- The cause is not written down. The same defect comes back next month.
- The record is in three places: an email, a paper form and a spreadsheet.
- Nobody looks at the open ones. If no meeting starts with the open list, the list does not matter.

## What you are building

One list. Call it "Defect log". Each row is one defect. The list shows what happened, who owns the fix, when it is due and whether it is done. One saved view shows open defects past their due date, so the review meeting starts there.

If you are new to lists, see "[Replace a spreadsheet tracker with a SharePoint list](/guides/replace-spreadsheet-with-sharepoint-list/)". If you want rows to turn red when they are late, see "[Turn overdue rows red in a SharePoint list](/guides/highlight-overdue-rows-sharepoint-list/)". Those basics are not repeated here.

## Step 1. Create the list

Go to [https://www.microsoft365.com](https://www.microsoft365.com) and open the SharePoint site your team uses. Microsoft's help page on creating a list says: "Or, you can create a new list from your SharePoint site home page or the Site contents page, select + New \> List." It describes the blank option as: "Blank list: Choose to start a list from scratch." Then it says: "When you're finished selecting options, select Create." Name the list "Defect log".

## Step 2. Set up the columns

Microsoft's help page says: "A blank list opens with a standard "Title" column on the left." Use that Title column for the defect line. Then add these columns with "Add column":

1.  Title (Single line of text). Rename it "Defect". Type one short line, such as "Cracked housing, lot 4471".
2.  Date found (Date and Time, date only).
3.  Part or job (Single line of text). The part number or job number.
4.  Severity (Choice): 1 Critical, 2 Major, 3 Minor.
5.  Cause (Single line of text, or Multiple lines of text for longer notes). Fill it in when the cause is known. Leave it empty until then.
6.  Owner (Person). One person, not a group. One way to start is one name per row.
7.  Due date (Date and Time, date only).
8.  Status (Choice). 1 Open, 2 In progress, 3 Closed.
9.  Fix (Multiple lines of text). What was done to correct it.

Our advice, not a Microsoft rule: put a number in front of each Severity and Status choice, as shown above.

## Already have an Excel log?

Microsoft's help page on creating a list from the Lists app describes a From Excel option: "Bring in table data from Excel". Choose New list, then From Excel, and follow the prompts. Our advice, not a Microsoft rule: put the Excel data in a table first, with one header row, and match the headers to the nine columns in Step 2. To add rows from Excel to a list you already made, see "[Add Excel rows to a SharePoint list you already have](/guides/import-excel-into-existing-sharepoint-list/)".

## Step 3. Write each defect so it can be closed

A good row answers four questions in plain words: what is wrong, which part or job, who owns the fix, and by when. Compare these:

- Weak: "Quality issue on line 2."
- Strong: "Cracked housing, lot 4471. Owner: shift lead. Due: Friday."

If one of the four is missing, ask before you save the row.

Our advice, not a Microsoft rule: write the cause in plain words, not in a code only your team knows. A new hire should be able to read the row.

## Step 4. Add the "Past due and open" view

You want a view that answers one question: which defects are still open and late.

1.  Open the list. Open the view menu, then choose "Edit current view" to open the classic view editor. Or create a new view and then edit it in the classic view editor. Name it "Past due and open".
2.  Under "Filters", choose "Show items only when the following is true". Microsoft's help page on filtering a view says: "Scroll down to the Filters section, and select Show items only when the following is true."
3.  First filter: pick Due date, then "is less than", and type \[Today\].
4.  Connect a second filter with And: Status "is not equal to" 3 Closed.
5.  Show the columns Defect, Part or job, Severity, Owner, Due date and Status. Sort by Due date, oldest first. Save.

Microsoft's help page on filtering a view says: "It is not possible to use the \[Today\] or \[Me\] filters when filtering using a column header." It also says: "You must use the classic view editor to filter columns using these keywords." So the \[Today\] part must be set in the classic view editor. Our advice, not a Microsoft rule: set blank and "is not equal to" filters in the classic view editor too.

An item due today is not late yet. "Is less than \[Today\]" leaves out items due today. Microsoft's page says: "To leave out the current day, set a second filter on the Date column to be less than \[Today\] and connect them with And."

## Step 5. Add an "Open by owner" view

A second view helps the person who runs the review. Make a view called "Open by owner". Filter Status "is not equal to" 3 Closed, set in the classic view editor. Then group by Owner. Each owner sees their own pile, and the lead sees who has too many.

## Step 6. Run a weekly review

Put the "Past due and open" view on the screen at the start of the weekly quality meeting. For each row, the owner says one of three things: done, not done, or needs help. Then:

1.  Done rows: change Status to 3 Closed and fill in Fix.
2.  Late rows: set a new date, or reassign the owner.
3.  Rows moved three times: ask whether the cause is still unknown. If it is, say so in the Cause column and decide who finds it.

This meeting is the step that makes the list work. If nobody opens the list, the best list does nothing.

## Step 7. Keep the cause column honest

The reason to write down a cause is so the same defect does not come back. When a row is closed, read the Cause and Fix together. If the Cause is empty, ask for it before you close the row. Our advice, not a Microsoft rule: give your team a short list of causes to start with, such as material, machine, method, measurement and people, and use a Choice column for them if you want to count by cause later. Change the list to match how your plant talks.

## What to avoid

- Do not leave the Owner empty. A row with no owner has no one chasing it.
- Do not leave the Due date empty. Without a date it is never late.
- Do not type a status into the Title. Use the Status column.
- Do not use a calculated column to find late rows. Microsoft says: "The TODAY and ME functions are not supported in calculated columns but are supported in the default value setting of a column."
- Do not rely on a view to hide rows from people. A view only changes what is shown, and anyone who can open the list can switch to another view. Views are not security. To control who can see the list, use permissions.
- Do not delete old rows to clean up. Close them, so the history stays.
- Do not call this list your quality system. It tracks defects. It does not tell you what you must record or for how long. Ask your quality lead.

## Honest limits

A list records what someone typed. It does not check that a fix worked, and it does not stop a bad part from shipping. It cannot tell you if a row is missing. If a defect was never entered, the list does not show it, so a person must enter every defect.

This list is a simple tracker for a small team. If you need audit steps, signatures, supplier follow-up or rules about records, ask your quality lead and your customers what they require. This guide does not cover your industry's rules.

Also, a list does not send messages by itself. If you want a message when a row is late, that is a separate flow. See "[Send a reminder before a due date in a SharePoint list](/guides/send-reminder-before-due-date/)". For a wider look at late items, see "[Late tasks nobody notices: setting up late alerts](/guides/late-tasks-nobody-notices/)".

## When to get help

You can build all of this yourself in Microsoft 365. If you would rather have it built and tested for your team, I do that. A tracker like this is a fixed price: \$5,000 for one, built in 2 weeks. See "[What a SharePoint tracker costs to build](/guides/what-a-sharepoint-tracker-costs/)". Bring one example of the problem to a free call.

I am Al Davies. I run 250 High Street LLC and build SharePoint trackers and Power Automate flows for operations teams. I work remotely. The first call is free, and I will not try to sell you anything.

See trackers I built: [Tools I built](/portfolio/)

## FAQ

### What is the difference between a non-conformance log and a register?

Both words mean a list with one row per defect. In this build the "Defect log" list is the register, and the "Past due and open" view is the report the review meeting reads.

### Can I use this as a non-conformance report template for Excel?

The same columns work in Excel or in a list: defect, date found, part or job, severity, cause, owner, due date, status and fix. A list adds one owner per row and a saved view of late rows. To move an Excel log in, see "Already have an Excel log?" above.

### Why does my "Past due and open" view leave out items due today?

By design. "Is less than \[Today\]" skips today, so a row due today shows tomorrow if it is still open. The \[Today\] part must be set in the classic view editor.

### What does a manufacturing non-conformance report example look like?

A sample row: Defect "Cracked housing, lot 4471", Date found 2026-10-19, Part or job "Housing H-20", Severity 1 Critical, Owner the shift lead, Due date 2026-10-24, Status 1 Open. It stays open until Cause and Fix are filled in and Status is 3 Closed.

### Does this list meet my customer's or my industry's record rules?

This guide cannot say. Ask your quality lead and your customer what records they require, how long to keep them and where. This list only tracks open and closed defects.

## Sources

- [Microsoft Support, Create a list from the Lists app](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepoint/lists/create-a-list-from-the-lists-app)
- [Microsoft Support, Use filtering to modify a SharePoint view](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/use-filtering-to-modify-a-sharepoint-view-3d8efc52-0808-4731-8f9b-3dfaeacea3d4)
- [Microsoft Support, Create a list](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepoint/lists/data-and-lists/create-a-list)
- [Microsoft Support, Introduction to SharePoint formulas and functions](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepoint/libraries/introduction-to-sharepoint-formulas-and-functions)

## Related guides

- [Meeting action items forgotten: how to make them stick](/guides/meeting-action-items-forgotten/)
- [RAID log in a SharePoint list: risks, actions, issues, decisions](/guides/raid-log-sharepoint-list/)
- [Copy or move SharePoint list items to another list with Power Automate](/guides/archive-closed-items-to-another-list/)

Source: https://250highstreet.com/guides/non-conformance-log-sharepoint/