The Corrective Action Plan (CAP) is essential to help suppliers improve. A CAP can be set up after a factory audit, whether technical, social, or environmental. The corrective action plan after a factory audit should be prepared as soon as a factory audit identifies nonconformities.
Benefit of a corrective action plan after a factory audit
The great advantage of CAP is that it provides a clear working method for suppliers and buyers to:
Identify the most important defects
Understanding the origin of these defects
Assign a responsible person
Propose corrective actions
Achieving the objectives within the agreed time frame
The external auditors should summarize the shortcomings found in an external factory audit. To support manufacturers, external inspection companies provide a typical, efficient format for preparing the corrective action plan.
Factories are actively involved in their own improvement. Suppliers are asked to identify the causes of non-conformities and to propose an action plan as well as the person responsible. Once the improvement objectives have been identified, the manager is responsible for ensuring that they are implemented within the required deadlines.
The CAP is like a supplier capacity builder for the sake of sustainable improvement.
How to ensure that the supplier implements the corrective action plan after a factory audit?
A follow-up audit should be carried out as soon as a number of improvements are put in place. To do this, the buyer needs to organize follow-up, mostly in conjunction with their inspection company, to measure factory progress.