What is a quality alert?

A notice posted at the line after a defect is found. It shows what the defect looks like next to a good part, how to check for it and what to do if it is found, so every shift looks for it until the cause is fixed.

How long should a quality alert stay posted?

Until its valid-until date or until it is closed, whichever comes first. There is no fixed period: the site, or the customer, sets it. Give every alert a review date, then extend it, close it, or move the check into the standard work or control plan.

Who signs a quality alert?

Everyone who works at the stations it names, on every shift: operators, relief operators, inspectors and team leaders, at the start of their first shift after it is posted. The person who briefed them signs too.

What is the difference between a quality alert and an NCR?

An NCR records that something did not meet a requirement and decides what happens to the affected parts. A quality alert tells the people at the line what to look for and what to do, so the defect is caught if it happens again. One defect often has both.

Free template

Updated October 1, 2026

Quality alert form

Q: What should a quality alert include?

The alert number and dates, the part, where and on which shifts it applies, photos of an OK part and of the defect, what to check and how, what to do if it is found and who to call, the suspect stock and its containment, and when it will be reviewed and closed.

A quality alert is a notice posted at the line after a defect is found, so that every operator on every shift knows what the defect looks like, how to check for it and what to do if they find it, until the cause is fixed. It is a containment step: it protects the next process and the customer while the root cause is worked on, usually through an NCR or a CAPA. Page 1 of this template is the alert to post: alert number, part, customer, where and on which shifts it applies, OK and not OK photo boxes, the defect, what to check and how, what to do if it is found (stop, segregate, call), the suspect stock and its containment, the valid-until and review dates, and when to close it. Page 2 is the sign-off sheet each shift signs, with how to run quality alerts and a worked example. The Excel version is an alert log: the status as of a date (open, expired or closed), days open, shifts signed against shifts needed, overdue reviews, suspect parts checked and found bad, and counts by product and by defect.

Free to use: print it, copy it and edit it for your team. Enter your name and work email once to download.

Page 1 of the quality alert form: a red quality alert band with the alert number and valid-until date, fields for part, customer, issuer and approver, lines, stations and shifts, OK and not OK photo boxes, the defect, a table of what to check and how, stop, segregate and call steps, a suspect stock table and when to close the alert. — OK and not OK photosWhat to check and howStop, segregate, callSuspect stock and containmentValid-until and review datesShift sign-off sheetClosure criteriaAlert log in Excel

When to use it

When to use a quality alert form

When a defect is found that could be made again, or could already be in other stock, before its root cause is fixed.
After a customer complaint or an escaped defect, so every shift checks for the same thing.
When a new or changed check has to reach every operator on every shift quickly.
To keep track of which alerts are still posted, which have expired and which are closed.

How to fill it in

1
Issue it as soon as the defect is confirmed
Quality raises the alert: one alert for one defect, with a number, a valid-until date and a review date.
2
Show good and bad side by side
Put a photo or sketch of an OK part next to the defect, and mark where on the part to look.
3
Say exactly what to check, and what to do
The check, the gauge or method, how many parts and how often, and where to record it. Then what to do if it is found: stop, segregate, call.
4
Contain the suspect stock
List where suspect parts may be (at the line, in finished goods, in the warehouse, in transit, at the customer) and record how many were checked and found bad.
5
Brief and sign off every shift
The team leader briefs the alert at the line at the start of each shift and everyone signs. Count the shifts signed against the shifts needed.
6
Review and close it
On the review date, extend it, close it, or move the check into the standard. Take it down once it is closed.

A filled-in example

Illustrative, not a benchmark

An example: four quality alerts in September, with their status on September 30 (illustrative).

QA-26-011, a burr on the mounting hole of bracket B-100: issued Sep 1, signed by all three shifts, closed Sep 12 after 11 days. 14 of 1,200 suspect parts were found bad.
QA-26-012, a short shot on housing H-12: valid until Sep 24 and not closed, so it shows as expired. Extend it, or close it and take it down.
QA-26-013, a missing weld nut on bracket B-100, posted Sep 22 on line 2: shifts 1 and 2 have signed, shift 3 has not, and its review date of Sep 29 has passed.
QA-26-014, a scratch on cover C-220: posted Sep 28 on a two-shift line, both shifts signed, review due Oct 5.

On September 30 two alerts are open, one has expired and one is closed. Across the four, 4,850 suspect parts were checked and 23 found bad (0.47%). Bracket B-100 has had two alerts in one month, which points to a CAPA rather than another alert.

Common mistakes

Words with no picture
A description alone is read differently by every operator and inspector. Show what good and bad look like.
Briefing only one shift
An alert that only the day shift has seen leaves the other shifts without it. Count signatures by shift.
Leaving alerts up for ever
Expired alerts left on the board teach people to ignore alerts. Review by the date, then close or extend.
Treating the alert as the fix
An alert contains the problem; it does not remove the cause. Link it to an NCR or a CAPA, and close it when the cause is fixed and checked.

Download the template

Free to use: print it, copy it and edit it for your team. Enter your name and work email once to download.

Run this template in LeanSuite

In LeanSuite an operator flags a non-conformance with photos from a QR code at the line, critical NCRs page Quality and Engineering, containment and quarantined stock are tracked before root cause analysis starts, and the fix goes out as a One-Point Lesson every affected operator acknowledges.

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