Audit the thing that failed, not a generic questionnaire. Write audit questions from the SCAR cause, such as how die life is tracked and what happens when a job moves machines. Findings go back to the tracker, and a clean audit goes on the scorecard with the next due date. Then check that the lot and SCAR numbers appear in every record they touched.
The fix is proven, but you have only seen it from your dock. You know five lots came in clean. You haven't seen the die log, the press, or how a job moves from one machine to another. For a serious or repeat problem, the last step is to go and see.
Audit the failure, not the questionnaire
A supplier audit is not a form sent in the mail. It is a visit, or a video walk with records, where you ask to see the thing that failed. For Dunmore the team wrote the audit questions straight from the SCAR cause:
- How is die life tracked, and who resets the counter?
- What happens when a job moves from one press to another?
- What is checked inside a run, and how often?
- Show me the last change record.
Ask to see evidence, not to be told
For each question, ask for the record or the thing itself: the die log, the last change record, the in-process check sheets for a recent run, the gage and its calibration, and the training record of the person doing the check. "We do that" is an answer. "Here is the record from last Tuesday" is evidence. Take notes on what you saw, not on what you were told.
Rate it and close the findings
Rate each answer against the requirement. A major finding is one where the system would let a defect reach you again, such as no die counter, or a change process nobody follows. A minor finding is a gap that does not threaten the product by itself. Write each one down, with the evidence, and give it an owner and a due date.
Findings go back where they came from. A major one opens a new SCAR on the tracker. A minor one gets a due date and a check. A clean audit goes on the scorecard with the date the next one is due.
How often to go back
Set the next visit by risk. A supplier with a major finding gets a follow-up visit once their response is in. One with a clean audit and a clean record can go longer. Your own audit plan and the supplier agreement set the real schedule.
Then close the trail
Pull the thread one last time. Lot 55102 and SCAR-014 should appear in every record they touched:
- Receiving report: 6 of 32 reject.
- Red tag and alert: lot held, departments told.
- Waiver and notice: use denied, supplier told in writing.
- SCAR and tracker: SCAR-014 issued with dates.
- 8D: cause on three legs, accepted after pushback.
- Verification: five clean lots.
- Part history and scorecard: reject, response, fix.
- Audit: die log, change process and checks, seen on site.
Eight steps, one lot number. When an auditor or a customer asks how you handled a bad supplier lot, you hand them 55102 and they can follow it end to end.
The mistake to avoid
Auditing with a generic checklist and no failure in mind. Start from the lot that failed. Ask to see the thing that broke, and ask how the supplier would know if it broke again.
- Pick one supplier with a recent SCAR.
- Write three audit questions from that SCAR's cause.
- Put the visit or the video walk on the calendar this month.
Open the printable Monday Board
Related on ShopFloorOps
The supplier, the part, the lot and the people in this book (Dunmore Fastener Co., FB-8120, lot 55102) are a made-up example. The tool sidebars show ShopFloorOps tools, which I make and sell. Every chapter teaches the step itself, so you can use your own forms.