MRB Material Review: Disposition Decisions for Nonconforming Material
What Is an MRB?
A Material Review Board (MRB) decides the disposition of nonconforming materials and is a core mechanism for nonconformance control in aerospace, automotive and electronics industries. Dispositions generally fall into use-as-is, rework, repair, scrap or return to supplier, and each decision must be approved and documented by authorized personnel. The review record should include the nonconformance description, photographs, review conclusion, signatures of responsible persons and the disposition outcome, forming a complete evidence chain.
How the Review Process Works
Isolate and identify the nonconforming material first, then have inspection issue a nonconformance report that triggers the MRB. Quality, engineering, purchasing and customer representatives review within their authorized scope, decide the disposition and corrective actions, and track verification until the loop is closed. The tool guides you through registering the nonconformance, selecting a disposition category and generating the review record. Review conclusions and corrective actions need authorized sign-off with clear accountability.
Applicable Scenarios
Handling nonconformances found in incoming, in-process and final inspection; evaluating customer-returned items; disposing of work-in-process affected by engineering changes; and interfacing with supplier nonconformance reports. When use-as-is or repair deviates from drawing requirements, written customer approval is required. For items returned to the supplier, track their corrective actions and verify subsequent batches to prevent recurrence.
Outputs and Precautions
The tool outputs a nonconformance registration form, a disposition sheet and a closed-loop tracking record. When using it, respect the approval hierarchy: major deviations must be approved by qualified personnel or the customer. Use-as-is must not become a routine practice; if it recurs, the process capability is insufficient and root-cause analysis should be started. Keep disposition conclusions and customer approval documents with the product records to satisfy traceability and audit requirements, with retention periods following the quality records procedure.