A CAPA loop that actually closes, not just documents.
Corrective and Preventive Action (CAPA) sounds procedural, but the distinction inside the name is the entire point: a corrective action fixes what already went wrong; a preventive action stops it from recurring. An audit or inspection finding that only produces the first without the second tends to reappear on the next visit, sometimes with different wording but the same root cause.
A CAPA process that actually closes a finding has a specific shape: root cause identified (not just the symptom), a corrective action with a named owner and a deadline, a preventive action addressing why the root cause existed in the first place, and — critically — a follow-up verification that confirms the fix is real and durable, not just documented. Skipping that last step is the most common way CAPA becomes theatre: a supplier submits a written response, the finding gets marked closed, and nobody checks whether the fix actually happened on the floor.
For buyers managing multiple suppliers, the practical signal to watch is repeat findings — the same root cause showing up across consecutive audits is a much stronger signal than any individual finding on its own. It means the corrective loop isn't actually closing, whatever the paperwork says.
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