Use cases by sector
Industry: shop-floor and supplier control with evidence
Line checks with photo and time, risk-based supplier approval and closed non-conformities.
In a factory everything is checked and almost nothing can be proven. Reports are on paper, photos are on different phones, and supplier approval lives in a spreadsheet one person maintains. It works until the first customer complaint or the first second-party audit.
Goods-in is where the money is saved
Catching a raw material problem at goods-in costs a return; catching it on the line costs a batch; catching it at the customer costs the complaint and the reputation. A goods-in check with evidence moves the finding to where it is cheapest.
Batch traceability
When a complaint lands, the question is always the same: which raw material went into that batch, what checks were done and who did them. If that is dated and evidenced, the answer takes hours. If it is on paper, it takes days and comes with doubts.
Watch out
Digitising a checklist by copying all forty points from paper is the classic mistake: if it takes twenty minutes, it gets filled in from memory at the end of the shift and does not work as evidence.
Frequently asked questions
›Does it help with an IATF or ISO audit?
For the documentary side yes: dated evidence, supplier control and corrective action follow-up with closure.
›Can it be used on the line, with gloves and no signal?
It runs from a phone. Without signal it is worth checking it uploaded before closing the shift.
›Can I request different documents by supplier criticality?
Yes, one process per category. That is precisely what is recommended.
›What about haulier documentation?
Same circuit: requested, expires, warns. It is one of the most commonly forgotten.
A real case
The situation
A customer complains about a batch and asks for full traceability in 48 hours.
What you do
- Filters by batch and pulls that shift's checks with their photos
- Attaches the certificates of the raw material that went in
- Adds the non-conformity raised and its action plan
What you get
A documented answer within the deadline, which is what stops the complaint escalating.
The situation
A client audit asks for evidence of plant control over the last six months.
What you do
- Checks the period's records with their dates
- Provides the log of real operations, not the procedure
- Records what was handed over
What you get
The control moves from assertion to evidence and the audit is prepared in an afternoon.
The situation
A client asks for the traceability of a specific batch.
What you do
- Checks that batch's file
What you get
You answer per batch rather than per catalogue.
The situation
A supplier certificate expires with material on the floor.
What you do
- Records expiries per supplier
What you get
The warning arrives before producing with it.
The situation
The trace breaks between production and despatch.
What you do
- Ties the batch produced to the outgoing delivery note
What you get
The batch is followed to the customer.
The situation
A problem must be contained and nobody knows what shipped.
What you do
- Checks which batches went to which customers
What you get
Those affected are warned rather than the whole base.
The situation
Each shift records differently.
What you do
- Uses the same form for everyone
What you get
The history is comparable.
The situation
Plant sheets are written up at the end of the day.
What you do
- Records at the moment
What you get
The data is exact rather than reconstructed.
This article answers
- paperless shop-floor quality control
- industrial supplier documentation
- production batch traceability
- factory non-conformity management
- IATF ISO audit documentation