Reports and quality
Raising a quality claim with a supplier
What has to be gathered before writing the claim, not after.
A quality claim is won or lost in the first few hours, before anything is written. What decides it is not the wording: it is what was gathered while the problem was in front of you and could still be documented.
What to gather the same day
- 1
The batch and its intake documentation
Delivery note, certificate, receipt date. It ties the defect to that supply.
- 2
Photos of the defect and of the whole
Detail and context: a close-up with no context identifies nothing.
- 3
How much is affected
Whether it is the whole batch or part, and how you checked.
- 4
And the real impact
Line stoppage, rework, missed delivery. It is what quantifies the claim.
Important
The fourth is barely ever documented in time and is the only one that turns a complaint into a claim. "The material was bad" opens a technical argument; "the material was bad and stopped the line for six hours" opens a negotiation.
What to have in place beforehand
| Element | Why beforehand |
|---|---|
| An agreed written specification | Without it, "bad" is an opinion |
| Acceptance criteria at goods-in | It defines what is checked and to what tolerance |
| The supplier's incident history | It changes the conversation if this is the third time |
Watch out
The third row carries the most weight and survives the worst, because incidents usually live in different people's emails. Held in the supplier's file, the claim stops being an isolated case and becomes a pattern, which is a different conversation.
When writing it
Worth knowing
Communicating with proof of delivery matters more here than elsewhere: defect claim windows are usually short and run from receipt or from detection, depending on the case.
›What if the defect appears months later?
You can still claim, but what was recorded at goods-in weighs heavily.
›Should we return the material before it is resolved?
Not without agreeing: returning the evidence early complicates proving the defect.
›Should an internal non-conformance be raised too?
Yes, and linked: the claim looks outward, the non-conformance inward.
A real case
The situation
A factory receives out-of-spec material and claims a week later.
What you do
- Gathers batch, photos, affected quantity and impact the same day
- Links the supplier's incident history
What you get
The claim is settled with replacement and no technical argument, because the facts were dated.
The situation
A supplier is challenged on quality and replies that it is the first time.
What you do
- Checks their incident history with dates
- Provides the specific impact of each
- Agrees a plan with a review date
What you get
The claim rests on facts and the supplier knows exactly what is being asked.
The situation
The complaint is made by phone and nothing remains.
What you do
- Records it with what was agreed
What you get
What was agreed stops depending on two memories.
The situation
The complaint comes late and the deadline has passed.
What you do
- Records the incident on detection
What you get
The claim goes out in time.
The situation
A complaint is made and nobody checks whether it improved.
What you do
- Sets the review date when complaining
What you get
The plan is met, or you know it is not.
The situation
The supplier improves and is still treated the same.
What you do
- Checks the period's trend
What you get
The relationship matches what is happening now.
This article answers
- supplier claim for defective product
- documenting a supplier non-conformance
- claiming for defective material
- evidence for a supplier claim