Run supplier audits and follow up with corrective actions

An audit here is a documentary assessment: your team checks the documents a supplier has sent against a fixed list of questions. It doesn't accept documents, approve the supplier or certify on-site safety. The named auditor is a member of your team, not an outside auditor you share an evidence pack with.

How do I create a checklist?

1. Open the checklists

   Choose Audits in the sidebar, then Manage checklists and Create checklist. Only Owners and Admins see it.

2. Name it

   Enter a Checklist name and, if it helps the auditor, Guidance · optional. The guidance shows at the top of each audit.

3. Write the items

   In Checklist items, write one question per line: up to 30 items, each 8 to 300 characters, and all different (capitals don't count). If a line breaks a rule, the form names it, for example Item 3 is too short, and keeps what you typed.

4. Publish it

   Choose Publish checklist.

To change a checklist, choose Publish next version. New audits use the newest version; audits already scheduled keep the exact version they started with. A workspace can have up to 100 checklists.

How do I schedule an audit?

1. Start from Audits or the supplier

   On Audits, choose Schedule audit. From a supplier's page, Supplier audits under Related opens that supplier's audits, and Schedule audit starts with it chosen.

2. Choose what to audit

   Choose the Supplier and the Checklist version, and enter an Audit title.

3. Choose who and when

   Choose the Named auditor, an Owner, Admin or Reviewer who will close the audit. Set the Scheduled date and the Due date, which can't be earlier. Dates are calendar dates in your workspace's timezone.

4. Schedule it

   Choose Schedule audit. The audit opens. Scheduling sends the supplier nothing.

Edit schedule or auditor changes the title, auditor or dates, with a Reason for change; the supplier and checklist version stay fixed. If the named auditor leaves or loses review access, the audit says so, and someone must reassign it before it can close.

How do I assess each item?

Owners, Admins and Reviewers can record assessments. For each checklist item, choose an outcome and write notes of at least 8 characters.

To record a new finding, choose Create or manage findings: the supplier's Tasks tab opens in a new browser tab. Add the finding there (see Track findings and follow-up tasks), then choose Refresh evidence & findings and link it. Unsaved assessments stay in the form.

Choose Save assessments to save every item at once. The audit then shows as In progress.

How do I close an audit?

Only the named auditor can choose Close audit, and only when:

• every item has an outcome other than Not assessed,
• every blocking finding linked to the audit is resolved, and
• the assessments are saved.

Write a Closure summary of at least 20 characters, covering what you checked, your conclusions and any open findings that don't block, then choose Confirm audit closure. A closed audit can't be edited; schedule a new audit for a fresh assessment. The closed record keeps each item's outcome and notes, and the state of each document and finding when the audit finished.

A finding that doesn't block can stay open when the audit closes. A blocking finding can't be removed from an open audit until it is resolved.

If an audit is no longer needed, an Owner, Admin, Manager or Reviewer can choose Cancel audit, write a Cancellation reason of at least 20 characters and choose Confirm cancellation. Its checklist, assessments and history stay.

How do I find audits and their history?

Audits lists audits by due date. Use Audit status (Open audits, Overdue, Closed, Cancelled or All audits) and Supplier filter, then choose Apply filters. An open audit past its due date is marked Overdue.

On an audit, Audit change history lists every revision: who made it, when, the status, auditor, due date and reason, with the assessments and references at that revision.

How do I plan a corrective action?

A corrective action follows a finding through to a lasting fix. You can start one from any open finding, whether or not an audit raised it.

1. Open the finding's corrective action

   On the supplier's Tasks tab, find the finding and choose Corrective action and effectiveness review, then Plan corrective action.

2. Assign it

   Choose the Action owner and the Action due date. The finding's owner and due date change to match.

3. Describe the problem and the fix

   Write the Immediate containment, the Root cause and the Corrective action, at least 20 characters each.

4. Keep verification independent

   Require independent verification is ticked, so a different person must verify the action and its effectiveness. Only an Owner or Admin sees the box and can untick it; for everyone else it stays on. It can't be changed later.

5. Save the plan

   Choose Save corrective action plan.

A finding has one active corrective action at a time, and it can't be resolved from its own editor until that action closes. While the action is in Plan and implement, an Owner, Admin, Manager or Reviewer can choose Edit action plan and give a Reason for plan change of at least 20 characters.

How is a corrective action verified and closed?

Reviews are recorded with a Review decision, Review evidence and conclusion and Record review decision. Every step needs notes of at least 20 characters and 1 to 5 document versions from the finding's requirement.

Documents that support a step can't be withdrawn or sent back for changes, and Vendarity checks the earlier steps' documents again before it accepts a verification or confirms effectiveness. A return can cite any version, including a withdrawn one.

Only the person the finding is assigned to can record the next step; after Send for verification, that is the verification reviewer. The reviewer must be an active Owner, Admin or Reviewer and, with independent verification, not the person who recorded the implementation. To hand a step to someone else, change the finding's owner on the supplier's Tasks tab.

Effective — close action and finding closes the action and resolves the finding. A return sends the action back to Plan and implement with the new owner and due date. Evidence acceptance and supplier approval stay separate decisions.

How do I keep track of effectiveness reviews?

After verification, the finding stays with the reviewer, due on the effectiveness review date. Tasks lists it by due date with Review effectiveness under its title, and marks it Overdue once the date passes. To see only these, choose Effectiveness reviews in the work-stage list and Apply. On Home, Your tasks shows your earliest work and marks an overdue effectiveness review as overdue. Each opens the corrective action.

Can I cancel a corrective action?

An Owner or Admin can choose Cancel this action, write a Cancellation reason of at least 20 characters and choose Confirm action cancellation. Cancelling doesn't confirm a fix: the finding stays open, keeps its blocking status and can get a new action.

Corrective-action history on the action's page lists every revision of every action for the finding, with the plan, the documents and each review.