How Slovenian Companies Manage Nonconformities and Deviations – An Insight into the State of Digitalization

Well-designed procedures ensure greater safety and traceability, promote a culture of continuous improvement, and ultimately have a strong impact on business performance. The digitalization of this business area is on the rise. Digital tools make it easier to record data, automate reporting, increase transparency, and monitor corrective actions more effectively. This allows those responsible to focus more on analyzing root causes and preventing the recurrence of errors.

To gain a clearer insight into the current situation, we conducted a survey on the management of nonconformities and deviations in Slovenian companies, involving 69 organizations of various sizes and industries – from large companies with over 500 employees to smaller organizations. Approximately half of the participants come from the private sector and the other half from the public sector.

Process digitalization is underway, but not yet comprehensive

The results show that 36% of companies already have a digitalized process for managing nonconformities, the same share has it partially digitalized, while 20% still operate without digital support. As many as 59% of organizations already store documentation electronically, 32% partially, while 9% still use only paper records.

This indicates considerable diversity among companies. Some are already digitalized, others are just at the beginning of the journey. All this suggests that digitalization in this area is progressing inconsistently and often without a unified strategy. As a result, companies face fragmented processes and many challenges with information flow.

The most common sources of information for detecting nonconformities are internal reports and audits (58%), followed by external audits and customer feedback (both 40%). A significant share also comes from internal employee reports (36%).

The predominance of so-called formal sources, such as internal reports and audits, shows that companies mostly detect nonconformities reactively rather than proactively. Although internal employee reporting is present, which is very encouraging, we can still say that the system for early detection and identification of nonconformities and deviations is not yet sufficiently developed.

Functionalities of existing solutions

Most companies use partially digital or semi-automated solutions, with the most commonly used functionalities being:

• tracking corrective actions for nonconformities (48%),
• reporting nonconformities and deviations (43%),
• root cause analysis (42%).

In most companies, digital solutions are mainly used for record-keeping and tracking actions. What’s missing are in-depth analyses and strategic decision-making based on results. We could say that companies currently use digital tools primarily for administration or record support, rather than as a source of learning and improvement based on identified nonconformities.

More advanced functionalities, such as automatic detection of nonconformities (8%) or real-time reporting (26%), are still relatively rare. Integration with other information systems is also present only in a small number of companies – only 10% have full integration.

This low level of system interconnectivity means that most companies remain at a basic level of digital tool use and do not take full advantage of the benefits and added value digital tools can offer. Without system integration, there is no holistic insight into operations, and the result is merely a digital version of existing manual processes. 

Frequency of reviews and evaluation of procedures

Most organizations regularly review their nonconformity management procedures: 34% several times a year, 26% monthly, 17% annually, 19% less frequently, while 4% do not check them at all.

The results show that review practices vary greatly between companies, indicating a lack of a unified approach in this area. The wide range of review intervals—from daily to multi-year—suggests that organizations interpret the purpose of evaluation differently. This dispersion could be reduced by introducing unified, digitally supported guidelines that would enable consistent monitoring of process effectiveness.

Speed of corrective actions after identifying nonconformities

Most organizations respond relatively quickly – 65% complete corrective actions within a week, while 9% react within 24 hours. On the other hand, 22% of companies take more than a month, and 4% even longer than a year.

A fast response can be attributed to most organizations. For those that are less responsive, digital support could contribute to greater transparency, automated notifications, task assignments, deadline tracking, and consequently shorter response times. All this would reduce the risk of corrective actions remaining open for too long.

Main challenges: workload, tools, and communication

Respondents highlighted the following as their biggest challenges:

• employee overload,
• resistance to change,
• lack of adequate tools,
• insufficient system integration,
• and poor interdepartmental communication.

The main barrier to digitalization lies in organizational factors, not technology. Resistance to change often results from overload and the belief that digitalization and digital tools complicate rather than simplify work.

Digital transformation will only be successful if it goes hand in hand with an organizational culture that encourages collaboration and openness to change. Although most organizations (67%) assess their processes as effective, a quarter still consider them inefficient or insufficiently consistent.

Opportunities and expectations regarding digitalization

Companies expressed their willingness to invest in digital solutions:

• 14% would invest within the next 12 months,
• 25% within 1–3 years,
• 41% were unsure,
• and 20% reported no plans to invest in this area.

Companies are quite divided when it comes to investment planning. This reflects different levels of maturity and priorities among companies and sectors. Some are already planning concrete investments, while others still see digitalization as support rather than a strategic decision.

When it comes to potential system upgrades, organizations would most like to see:

• simpler use (20%),
• better reporting and analytics (18%),
• greater flexibility and integration with other systems (17% and 15%),
• automatic detection and notifications (16%).

More than half of respondents (58%) still believe that an improved digital solution would directly contribute to process optimization in their organization. Awareness of the benefits of digitalization is indeed high. However, experience shows that this does not always translate into readiness for change.

Summary: digitalization as the key to effective quality management

The survey shows that Slovenian companies recognize the importance of digitalizing nonconformity and deviation management. Although the area is still transitioning from manual to digital processes, the trends are clear: companies want more transparent, connected, and automated systems.

The greatest opportunities for improvement lie in simplifying procedures, standardizing solutions, integrating information systems, and automating reporting and notifications.

More advanced digital support will enable organizations to respond faster, make better decisions, and manage risks more effectively – which in the long run also means higher business quality and greater customer trust.

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