This guide is for suppliers in automotive, aerospace, medical devices, electronics, food, and general manufacturing who need to answer a nonconformity from a third-party, customer, or internal audit: IATF 16949, ISO 9001, AS9100, ISO 13485, food safety schemes, or a customer process audit. Your audit body’s or customer’s form and deadline come first. For the IATF clauses behind 8D, see IATF 16949 8D requirements.
Read the finding in three parts
Most written findings contain the same three things. Copy them into D2 exactly as written, so the reader can see you answered the right question.
- Requirement: the clause, procedure, or customer rule that applies.
- Evidence: what the auditor saw, such as the record, the part, or the sample.
- Gap: how the evidence differs from the requirement.
If any part is unclear, ask the auditor before you start. A response to the wrong reading of a finding usually comes back.
What each 8D section needs for an audit finding
| Section | What it needs to show |
|---|---|
| D1 | The owner of the process where the gap was found, not only the quality team |
| D2 | The finding word for word: requirement, evidence the auditor saw, and the gap |
| D3 | Correction of the instance found, plus a check of the rest of the population |
| D4 | Why the system allowed the gap, and why your own checks didn’t find it first |
| D5 | A change to the procedure, form, system, or responsibility that removes the cause |
| D6 | Records showing the change is in use, and results over a period of time |
| D7 | Other lines, sites, or processes that run the same way, and what you did there |
| D8 | Closure date and what evidence goes back to the auditor |
Correction is not corrective action
A correction fixes the example the auditor found. A corrective action removes the reason it happened. A response that lists only the correction leaves the auditor’s main question open. The examples below are illustrative, not from real cases.
Automotive (illustrative)
Finding: Three gauges on line 2 were past their calibration due date.
Correction: Calibrate the three gauges and review parts measured with them since the due date.
Corrective action: Find why the recall system didn’t flag them, for example gauges added outside the master list, and fix that.
Medical devices (illustrative)
Finding: Two operators had no training record for a revised work instruction.
Correction: Train the two operators and file the records.
Corrective action: Find why a document revision doesn’t trigger training, and link the two steps in the change process.
Food (illustrative)
Finding: The sanitation log was blank for two night shifts.
Correction: Confirm the cleaning was done or hold the product made on those shifts.
Corrective action: Find why a blank log went unnoticed, and add a check by the next shift lead.
Aerospace (illustrative)
Finding: First article inspection was not repeated after a drawing change.
Correction: Run the first article inspection on the current drawing revision.
Corrective action: Find why the drawing change didn’t reopen the first article, and add it to the change checklist.
The same split exists in a customer complaint 8D. See 8D corrective action vs containment.
Drafted the response? Get a free Accept / Conditional / Reject advisory on the report text, with missing evidence named, before it goes to the auditor or customer.
8D Gate is a free pre-send readiness advisory. It doesn't replace the customer's decision. We don't store your 8D body in our database; you can delete anytime. Anthropic processes the text for the review.
Check beyond the sample
An auditor samples. If they found three overdue gauges, the next question is how many others there are. Check the whole population (all gauges, all records, all lines) and write the numbers in D3: how many checked, how many with the same gap, what you did with them. For ways to show this clearly, see 8D containment actions examples.
Root cause: why the system allowed it
“Oversight” or “the employee forgot” is not a root cause for an audit finding. Ask why the process made the miss possible: no trigger, no owner, no check, or a form that doesn’t ask for the step. Then ask a second question: why didn’t your internal audit or process checks find it before the external auditor did? That is the escape cause.
Evidence auditors usually ask for
- The revised procedure, form, or system screen, with revision and date.
- Records from after the change, not only the day it went live.
- The extent check list with numbers.
- Training records only where training supports a real process change.
- A date for the effectiveness check if results aren’t in yet.
Before you send
- D2 quotes the requirement, the evidence, and the gap.
- The correction and the corrective action are listed separately.
- The extent check has numbers, not “checked, no other issues”.
- D4 names a system cause and an escape cause.
- Each action has an owner, a due date, and evidence or a date for it.
- Someone outside the team has read it as the auditor would.
Starting from a blank page? Use the 8D report template. If a response comes back, see 8D rejected? What to do next.
FAQ
- Do major and minor findings need the same depth?
- Follow your audit body’s or customer’s rules on content and deadlines. For both, auditors look for a root cause, an extent check, and a corrective action; a major often also needs evidence that the action is in place before closure.
- The auditor gave us their own form. Can we still use an 8D?
- Yes. Use the 8D as your working structure and copy the answers into their form. The form is what they read, so nothing should live only in the 8D.
- Does 8D Gate check audit compliance?
- No. It is a pre-send readiness check of one English report: completeness and evidence. It doesn’t assess your quality management system and isn’t an auditor’s or customer’s decision. The review tool is v0.1: it reviews English 8D reports, and the interface and report are in English. Templates are also available in German, Czech and Polish.
Free pre-send readiness check
Before the response goes out, run the report text through the free supplier 8D readiness check.
Paste text or upload PDF, DOCX, or Excel. You get an Accept / Conditional / Reject advisory, a score, section ratings, missing evidence, and questions to close gaps, with a PDF download. It is a pre-send readiness check for your team, not a customer decision.
8D Gate is a free pre-send readiness advisory. It doesn't replace the customer's decision. We don't store your 8D body in our database; you can delete anytime. Anthropic processes the text for the review.
Get the free 8D / D4 checklist
Keep the one-page version next to the finding. It covers D1–D8 and goes deeper on D4 occurrence, escape, and verification.
Get the free 8D / D4 checklist