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  Supplier Management Software  >  Supplier Corrective Action Request

Supplier Corrective Action Request

supplier corrective action

A Supplier Corrective Action Request (SCAR) is a proactive tool to drive accountability and collaboration with suppliers, ensuring root cause analysis, effective corrective actions, and sustainable preventive strategies that strengthen supply chain quality and resilience.

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What is a Supplier Corrective Action Request?

A Supplier Corrective Action Request (SCAR) is a formal request given by an organization to its supplier requesting the rectification of an issue associated with quality or non-compliance with a regulation. SCAR is issued to address the root cause of the issue and prevent a recurrence. The SCAR document will contain information about product batch, product details, and defect details. In response to the receipt of SCAR, the supplier can add to the document addressing the issue that led to the defect and the corrective action that will be completed to avoid deficiencies.

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What is the need for supplier corrective action requests?

To meet quality standards, an organization must ensure all suppliers comply with the regulations. When a SCAR is issued, it helps businesses identify which suppliers are not adhering to the rules. Other benefits of using a SCAR include:

  • Effectively developing a standard process across suppliers to solve product-related issues.
  • Measuring KPIs of suppliers and optimizing the supply chain process.
  • Improving collaboration between departments and third-party suppliers and fostering relationships.
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When should an organization issue a supplier corrective action request?

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Businesses must know that not all non-conformances require a SCAR. SCARs must be issued only where there is a critical issue or consistent, repetitive issue that needs immediate attention to avoid it from happening again in the future. For instance, if a supplier has had quality issues repeatedly, then a SCAR is issued. However, before a SCAR is issued, alerts are sent to suppliers about downward trends so they can respond and remedy the issues quickly.


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What happens when a supplier corrective action request is issued?

When the SCAR is issued, the supplier has 14 days or other stipulated time period to respond. The process to issue SCAR includes five steps:

  • Step 1: Problem Definition

    A SCAR is issued only when the supplier has failed to implement any corrective action as a response to warnings raised earlier. SCAR is considered the final step as part of the nonconformance process. The SCAR must include all the details of the issue. This will allow the supplier to have a good understanding of the issue at hand. Once all the details are furnished, the supplier must start their root cause analysis and develop corrective actions to remedy the situation.

  • Step 2: Defect Containment

    Once the quality issue has been raised to the supplier, the organization must contain the defective products from being used. This process includes product recall and shipment deferment. While the supplier focuses on corrective action, the organization must handle the products in hand are not used for manufacturing or distribution.

  • Step 3: Supplier Corrective Action Request Issued

    Once these immediate problems have been resolved, your organization must produce a SCAR that details the defects and issues of the products, giving a clear indication of the details stated in the above paragraphs. Once this has been completed, it can be sent to the supplier for them to begin investigating the issue.

  • Step 4: Determine the Nonconformance Reason

    Once the SCAR is raised, the supplier must begin their investigation. This can include reviewing the machinery and its manufacturing processes to ensure there are no errors during setup. Once the issue is resolved, a report in response to SCAR must be submitted back to the organization for review. The next step is implementing corrective action.

  • Step 5: Implement Corrective Action

    Once the root cause for SCAR is identified and communicated, the supplier must focus on corrective action. This step involves introducing changes to the process, addressing the issues that led to the reporting, and ensuring the fault does not occur again. During this step, the supplier must clearly communicate the time it will take to address the use. When developing a SCAR, both sides must be transparent and work towards resolving the issue immediately.

How can the SCAR system benefit an organization?

With real-time performance monitoring capabilities, the CQ Supplier Management solution helps drive efficiency and cost-effectiveness. CQ Supplier Management is coupled with audit, risk, change, document management and other QMS capabilities. The system can be used to share information with suppliers, address quality issues, take corrective actions, and stay ahead. The solution also has a dedicated Supplier Central portal that offers two-way visibility of supplier performance. By using a supplier management system to handle SCAR, businesses can focus on:

  • Ensuring all supplier corrective action requests are handled end-to-end with proper documentation for future reference.
  • Maintaining process quality by creating workflows to monitor repeatable processes.
  • Creating supplier readiness and quality by tracking SCAR incidents and response time to maintain vendor standards.
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Not All Suppliers are Key Suppliers: Managing Risk Within Your Supplier Management Program

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How can CQ’s Supplier Management solution help reduce the supplier correction action request?

CQ Supplier Management is a secure, cloud-based solution that helps businesses maintain supplier relationships, quality, compliance, and readiness. The CQ Supplier Management solution can be used to handle supplier management processes, including identifying quality issues managing approvals and changes in real-time, SCAR process, and ensuring appropriate supplier performance and quality standards through consistent audits and reviews. By digitally transforming supplier communication, the business can ensure that every interaction is clear, nothing gets missed or dropped, and there is continuity of supply..

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What actions to take when the supplier doesn’t respond to SCAR

Sometimes suppliers don’t respond to the SCARs. This could be due to any of the following reasons:

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Disagreement on the issue raised or the process involved in resolving the issue

CAPA raised per Year

Request ignored intentionally or unintentionally

CAPA raised per Year

Improper documentation submitted against SCAR raised

CAPA raised per Year

Inadequate response


A poor response can create significant challenges, whatever the root of the problem. To avoid success discrepancies, it is advised to create mitigation steps while designing the SCAR process. These mitigations can be in the form of face-to-face review, financial penalties, or escalation to senior management. Similarly, it is recommended to discuss the SCAR procedure during the supplier onboarding process as it helps build the right functional relationships from the start.

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We have rolled-out CQ across our company to automate various elements of QMS requirements such as Document Management, Complaints, Non-conformances, Corrective Action (8D and A3), Supplier Management and Audit Management. We have been using the software for more than 2 years. We are glad to see how well the system is being used across the company. We have several thousand users on the system currently and working to scale the usage further. CQ solution has been configured to meet our needs, works elegantly across languages, across time zones, and business verticals. With integration between CQ and SAP to exchange critical data, the process automation provides a lot of productivity.

Lia Budiman,
Solution Consultant, Continental Contitech

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Quality-centric Companies Rely on CQ QMS

  • affinivax
  • verily
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  • Tupperware
  • Qorvo
  • Continental
  • Vyaire
  • Lifescan
  • Lundbeck
  • CDC
  • Qlik
  • CSA Group
  • Impossible
  • Fluence

Automate the SCAR process to reduce audit time, improve product quality, and ensure compliance with CQ’s Supplier Corrective Action Request

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Frequently Asked Questions

  • CQ Supplier Management Solution can be used by different members of the organization:

    • Management can use the solution to gain visibility into supplier performance to make data-driven, real-time decisions.
    • The manufacturing department can quickly identify and resolve supplier quality issues to reduce cycle time.
    • A quality team can build better and stronger relationships with suppliers with a focus on continual improvement.
    • Engineers can effectively engage with capable suppliers to optimize the process.
    • Third-party suppliers can be informed of changes, issues, and key performance indicators in real-time.
    • The procurement team will be able to identify qualified and reliable suppliers to ensure supply integrity.
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