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Buyer decision guide

Plan Corrective Action After a Failed Inspection

Turn failed inspection findings into contained stock, root-cause questions, rework evidence and a controlled reinspection decision.

Open the tool

Prepare a controlled input

The calculator or checklist is only as useful as the commercial and product facts entered into it.

Use this when

  • Critical or unacceptable defects are found.
  • The supplier proposes sorting or rework.
  • The buyer must decide whether and how to reinspect.

Inputs to collect

  • Failed report and lot identity
  • Defect examples and affected characteristics
  • Containment status
  • Supplier root-cause response
  • Rework instruction and completion evidence
  • Reinspection scope and release authority

Decision workflow

Keep the working basis visible so another reviewer can reproduce the conclusion.

  1. Contain the lot

    Record that affected stock, labels and shipping instructions are held while the disposition is open.

  2. Define the correction

    State what must be sorted, reworked or replaced and how completion will be evidenced.

  3. Assess recurrence risk

    Ask what process condition caused the defect and what control changed.

  4. Set the new gate

    Choose a reinspection scope and keep release authority with the named buyer decision owner.

The output should support a decision

A failed-lot action record with containment, correction, evidence, reinspection and release ownership.

Questions the output should answer

  • Whether rework is technically acceptable
  • What evidence is required before reinspection
  • Whether the supplier response addresses recurrence

Check the failure points

  • Letting production ship during review
  • Accepting cropped photos without lot identity
  • Checking only the original defect after broad rework
  • Allowing the supplier to self-release the lot