Shipboard repair quality inspection process map
A swimlane map of inspecting a completed repair, from the technician's own self-check to customer acceptance, across the technician, QA/QC, the class surveyor and the customer. Three of its five decisions can send the work back to the workshop, at three different points and for three different reasons — which is what a single 'inspect and approve' box cannot show.
Opens a copy in the editor and saves it in this browser. No account, nothing sent anywhere.
What is in this map
16 steps across 4 swimlanes and 5 phases, with 5 decision points.
- Swimlanes (who does the work)
- Technician, QA/QC, Class Surveyor and Customer
- Phases (left to right)
- Self-inspection, QA/QC inspection, Verification, Approval and Closeout
Why map this process
Self-inspection exists as a separate step from QA/QC inspection for a reason worth stating plainly: a technician checking their own work and an independent inspector checking it are not the same control, and treating self-inspection as sufficient removes the second pair of eyes that catches what the person who did the work is least likely to see. The map keeps both, in sequence, deliberately.
The three rework loops in this map all return to the self-inspection step, not to the point of failure. That is a real choice: once a repair fails inspection anywhere in the chain, from self-check to customer acceptance, it goes back to the beginning of quality control, not back into the middle of it — because a repair that has been reworked needs the full inspection sequence again, not a partial recheck that assumes the earlier steps still hold.
Every step in the map
This is the spreadsheet behind the diagram. The numbers in “Goes to” are row numbers, which is exactly what the editor’s “Line to” column holds — so you can read the flow here and retype any part of it.
| # | Step | Shape | Swimlane | Phase | Goes to |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Repair work reported complete by the workshop | Start | Technician | Self-inspection | 2 |
| 2 | Technician performs self-inspection against the work order | Process | Technician | Self-inspection | 3 |
| 3 | Self-inspection finds the work to **specification**? | Decision | Technician | Self-inspection | 5 (Yes), 4 (No) |
| 4 | Rework before requesting QA inspection | Process | Technician | Self-inspection | 2 |
| 5 | Request QA/QC inspection | Process | Technician | QA/QC inspection | 6 |
| 6 | QA/QC inspector examines the repair | Process | QA/QC | QA/QC inspection | 7 |
| 7 | Repair requires measurement or *NDT* verification? | Decision | QA/QC | QA/QC inspection | 8 (Yes, weld/structural), 9 (No, visual sufficient) |
| 8 | Carry out *NDT* (UT/MT) and dimensional measurement | Process | QA/QC | Verification | 9 |
| 9 | Repair passes QA/QC **acceptance criteria**? | Decision | QA/QC | Verification | 11 (Pass), 10 (Fail) |
| 10 | Raise defect and return to workshop for rework | Exception | Technician | Verification | 2 |
| 11 | Repair requires *class surveyor* attendance? | Decision | Class Surveyor | Approval | 12 (Yes, class item), 13 (No) |
| 12 | Class surveyor reviews and endorses the repair | Approval | Class Surveyor | Approval | 13 |
| 13 | Present repair to customer for acceptance | Process | Customer | Approval | 14 |
| 14 | Customer **accepts** the repair? | Decision | Customer | Approval | 15 (Accepted), 10 (Rejected) |
| 15 | File inspection record and measurements against the job | Stored data | QA/QC | Closeout | 16 |
| 16 | Repair inspection closed out | End | QA/QC | Closeout | End |
The decision points
Every branch in the map, with the label on each outgoing line. These are the questions the process has to be able to answer.
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3. Self-inspection finds the work to **specification**?
Owned by Technician · Self-inspection
- Yes → step 5
- No → step 4
-
7. Repair requires measurement or *NDT* verification?
Owned by QA/QC · QA/QC inspection
- Yes, weld/structural → step 8
- No, visual sufficient → step 9
-
9. Repair passes QA/QC **acceptance criteria**?
Owned by QA/QC · Verification
- Pass → step 11
- Fail → step 10
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11. Repair requires *class surveyor* attendance?
Owned by Class Surveyor · Approval
- Yes, class item → step 12
- No → step 13
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14. Customer **accepts** the repair?
Owned by Customer · Approval
- Accepted → step 15
- Rejected → step 10
Notes on specific steps
These notes travel with the map. In the editor they live in the Notes column and appear when you open a box.
- 8. Carry out *NDT* (UT/MT) and dimensional measurement
- Weld root and structural repairs get ultrasonic or magnetic particle testing here; a repair that's only cosmetic skips straight to the acceptance decision.
Making it yours
The NDT decision is where this map earns its second decision diamond back to back — not every repair needs ultrasonic or magnetic-particle testing, only weld root and structural work does, so keep the 'visual sufficient' branch as a real shortcut rather than routing everything through NDT regardless of repair type. The class-surveyor decision is a Notes-column candidate for the actual class rules that trigger surveyor attendance in your yard — which repair types, which class society — since those rules change by class society and by vessel type, and belong in guidance text rather than as separate diamonds.
What to watch out for
- All three rework loops point back to the self-inspection step at the very start — not to QA/QC, and not to the workshop generically. If you shorten a rejection branch to skip self-inspection on the retry, you remove the technician's own check on the same defect that just failed downstream, which is the check most likely to catch a repeat of the same mistake.
- The class-surveyor branch is conditional, not universal — most repairs skip it and go straight to customer presentation. Routing every repair through class survey regardless of whether it is a class item adds a step (and often a scheduling delay) the actual regulatory requirement does not call for.
- Customer rejection routes to the same rework step as a QA/QC fail. Do not give customer rejection a different destination; both mean the same thing operationally, that the work did not meet an acceptance standard, whichever party's standard it was.
Frequently asked questions
Why does customer rejection route to the same rework step as a QA/QC failure?
Because the workshop's response is identical either way: rework and re-inspect from the top. The customer and QA/QC are different authorities with different acceptance criteria, but a rejected repair needs the same corrective sequence regardless of who rejected it, so the map reuses the one rework path rather than maintaining two.
Do we need the class surveyor step if our vessels aren't classed?
No — delete the branch and route everything straight to customer presentation. The class-surveyor decision exists because some repairs on classed vessels require survey attendance under class rules; an unclassed fleet has no equivalent requirement and the row adds a decision with no real branch to take.
How do we show which specific NDT method was used — UT versus MT?
Put it in the Notes column on the NDT row rather than adding rows: 'UT for the weld root, MT for the surface' describes what happened on that repair, and belongs with the step, not as a fork in the process. Reserve a new decision only if the choice of method itself changes what happens next in the flow, which it usually does not.
Open the map and start editing
The editor loads this chart with the spreadsheet underneath it. Change a cell and the diagram redraws — no drawing, no signup.