Warped sheets at the feeder
Halfway through a shift, the flexo folder-gluer starts misfeeding. The sheets from this delivery are warped, and the operator spends an hour nursing the machine, throwing out sheets and slowing the run. The supervisor mentions it in the shift notes. The job finishes late with a pile of waste.
A week later someone in purchasing hears about it and thinks there should be a claim to the board supplier. By then the pallet labels are in a skip, the photos are on an operator's personal phone, and nobody counted how many sheets were scrapped. The claim is never made.
The evidence is gone by the time anyone asks
Board suppliers generally consider claims when they are supported by evidence: the delivery, the batch or reel identification, what was wrong, when it was found and what it cost. That evidence exists briefly on the shop floor and then disappears. Nobody's job is to capture it at the moment the fault appears.
- Faults are noted in shift notes, if at all.
- Pallet and reel labels are discarded before anyone records them.
- Photos are on personal phones.
- Waste and lost machine time are not counted against the fault.
- Purchasing hears about problems days later.
There is also a reluctance to complain about a supplier you depend on. Claims feel confrontational when they are vague. With clear evidence they become a normal part of the relationship, and suppliers can use them to find the cause at their end.
What unclaimed faults cost
Each fault costs wasted board, machine time, operator time and sometimes a late delivery to your customer. When claims are not made, all of that cost stays with you. Worse, the supplier never hears about the pattern, so the same problem recurs. And without records, you cannot compare suppliers on quality when it is time to review who you buy from.
Supplier claims we build
- At the machine, the operator raises a material fault on the screen or a phone: scan the pallet or reel label, choose the fault type from your list, and take photos.
- The fault is linked automatically to the board delivery, the supplier's batch, and the job and machine it affected.
- Waste sheets and lost time are recorded against the fault, from shop floor data or the operator's entry.
- Affected stock from the same delivery is flagged in the warehouse, so it can be checked before it reaches another machine.
- Purchasing receives the fault immediately, with a claim pack that assembles the delivery note, photos, quantities and costs in the format your supplier asks for.
- Claims are tracked through to the supplier's response and any credit, and reports show faults by supplier, grade and type over time.
| Evidence | Kept now | Kept with supplier claims |
|---|---|---|
| Pallet or reel identity | Label thrown away | Scanned at the machine |
| What was wrong | A line in shift notes | Fault type and photos |
| Waste and lost time | Not counted | Recorded against the fault |
| Other stock at risk | Found on the next job | Flagged in the warehouse |
| Claim and outcome | Rarely made | Tracked to a response |
Faults that lead somewhere
Material faults are captured while the evidence is on the machine, and purchasing can raise a clear, factual claim the same day. Suspect stock from the same delivery is checked before it causes more trouble. Suppliers receive useful information about their faults. And supplier reviews are based on a record of quality, not recollection.
Are board faults costing you silently?
- Faulty board is mentioned in shift notes and nowhere else.
- Claims to board suppliers are rarely made.
- Pallet and reel labels are gone before anyone records them.
- Waste from material faults is not counted.
- You could not compare suppliers' quality from your records.