Quality control software where every defect has an owner.
Defect notes, sticky labels and one-off A3s become one numbered queue. Every event ties back to the job, part or supplier behind it, with root-cause tools built in.
From the first reject to the verified fix.
Quality management in Bulk runs on five records, each numbered per plant and per year: the quality issue, the hold, the non-conformance report, the CAPA and the 8D report. Each lists the records it links to, back to the job. Here one defect runs through four; an issue is worked through a CAPA or an 8D report, never both.
Raised at the reject
A reject recorded at the station opens a numbered issue with its job and quantity. Choosing a disposition resolves it.
Suspect stock held
A hold records how much is held and where. It is released in full, released in part or scrapped, each with a reason.
Decided by the board
The NCR goes to the material review board, and its decision is recorded with a justification, a name and a time.
Fixed, then verified
Its actions run as tasks. At Verifying the effectiveness result is recorded, and the CAPA is closed from there.
Scrap at the station raises the issue.
Defect tracking starts where the part is made. When an operator records a reject on a production step with a Quality Check, Bulk creates a linked quality issue with the category, quantity, job, step and asset already filled in.
Filled in from the line
The issue starts Open with source Production and carries the category, quantity, job, step, asset and batch from the recording. One defect makes one issue.
Three steps for the rest
Anything found elsewhere goes through Source & Info, Classification and Assignment & Review: a severity from Low to Critical, a category, the affected quantity and job, and up to 10 photos or files.
Every job shows its defects
Jobs, orders and invoices have a Quality tab counting total, open and resolved defects by category and disposition. Each row’s status follows its issue.
No disposition, no closing.
Every quality issue moves from Open to In Review, Resolved and Closed along a fixed path. Setting a disposition for the affected parts is what resolves it, and only a resolved issue can be closed, by someone allowed to close it.
Two gates
Choose scrap, rework, use as is, return to supplier or concession, with a quantity and a reason, to resolve an issue. Closing is a separate step with its own permission.
A batch in one go
Select issues that share a status and use Disposition & Close on up to 100 of them with one reason. Any that changed in the meantime are skipped and counted.
Reopen when facts change
A closed issue can go back to Open from the list. Every change lands in the issue’s activity timeline with who made it and when, and the Audit Trail keeps the lifecycle dates.
Hold the suspect parts until they are cleared.
A quality hold records a quantity of suspect material that must not be used or shipped: why it is held, how it is contained, where it sits and how much there is. It is then released in full, released in part or scrapped, and each release is logged with its reason.
Placed in three steps
Identify & Scope, Containment and Disposition record the reason, how the material is contained, the quarantine area, what should happen next, a reviewer and a target release date.
Severity sets the tag
Stop Ship takes a red tag, Production Hold a yellow one and Quarantine an orange one. The tag number defaults to the hold number.
Released with a reason
A full release needs a reason and a confirmation of authority, a partial release logs the quantity, and scrap writes off the rest. A closed hold stays closed.
Non-conformance, decided by the board.
Nonconformance software should take a suspect part to a recorded decision. In Bulk each NCR moves through Draft, Pending Review, Pending MRB, Dispositioned and Closed. A reviewer sends it to the material review board with a date and a place, and the board’s decision is recorded with its justification, its conditions, and the name and time.
Raised on one form
One scrolling form records the source (internal, supplier or customer), the affected jobs, the observation and corrective actions that become tasks. Compare it with our NCR template.
Six outcomes, one justification
Use as is, rework, repair, scrap, return to vendor or downgrade. The justification is required, conditions can be attached, and the decision is stamped with the approver and the time.
Forward only
Each action appears only at its stage. Closing is final and written to the compliance audit trail, and Create CAPA opens a CAPA pre-filled from the NCR.
Fix the cause, then check it held.
CAPA software has to show the fix held, not just list the actions. In Bulk a corrective and preventive action (CAPA) takes a problem from Draft through Investigating, Planning, Implementing and Verifying to Closed. Its actions are tasks with owners and due dates, and it is closed from the Verifying stage, where the effectiveness result is recorded.
Opened from the problem
Start from an NCR or issue, an audit finding, a customer complaint or an improvement idea, and the originating record stays linked. Our CAPA form template shows the fields.
Actions are tasks
Each immediate, corrective or preventive action becomes a task in Tasks, and Action Progress counts what is complete, in progress and overdue.
Verified before it closes
Once the actions are done the CAPA moves to Verifying, where Record Verification captures the result, effective, partially effective or not effective, and stamps who recorded it and when. Close CAPA appears only at that stage.
Nine disciplines, each with a gate.
An 8D report runs 8D problem solving the way the method intends: D0 to D8 in order, each discipline saved as you type and completed only when its requirements are met. The final root cause chosen in D4 flows back to every linked issue.
The right people first
A report needs a title, priority, severity, target date and problem statement, then a champion and a team leader, with core members by department and optional subject matter experts.
Gates, not guesswork
D3 needs at least one completed containment action, D5 at least one corrective action and D6 the fix validated. Undo steps back one discipline.
The cause flows back
Setting a final root cause also verifies it and writes it to every linked issue, whose Root Cause Analysis card then reads Defined in 8D-2026-0009.
Checked at 30, 60 and 90 days
Closing schedules three effectiveness checks. Three effective checks close the report for good; an ineffective one lets the team reopen it at D1.
Five root cause tools, inside the report.
Root cause analysis happens in the 8D report itself. D2 frames the problem with 5W2H and an Is / Is Not table, and D4 works it with a fishbone, a 5 Why chain and a fault tree, each saving as you type.
Frame it in D2
5W2H asks what, where, when, who, how, how many and why it matters. Is / Is Not compares where the problem is and is not, with the distinction between them.
Work it in D4
A fishbone across people, processes, materials, equipment, measurements and environment; a 5 Why chain of five to ten questions; and a fault tree with AND and OR gates.
The same tools elsewhere
Fishbone and 5 Why also sit on tasks and safety incidents. A record can hold up to five fishbone, 5 Why or fault tree analyses.
First pass yield, and what is still open.
The Quality home shows first pass yield and defect PPM for the last 30 days against the period before, a defect Pareto by category and a 90-day trend, beside live counts of open issues, active holds, and open NCRs and CAPAs.
Yield from station counts
First pass yield is good parts over good parts plus defects, and defect PPM is defects per million. Good parts come from the production output recorded at the station, and targets default to 98% and under 10,000.
Where defects concentrate
The Defect Pareto ranks categories by count over 30 days, and the FPY trend plots each day’s first pass yield for 90.
Open work, counted live
Open issues and those raised today, active holds, and open NCRs and CAPAs with how many are overdue. The New menu starts an issue, hold, NCR, CAPA or 8D report.
What quality management software should answer.
Quality management software for manufacturing records what went wrong, where, what happened to the parts, why it happened and whether the fix held. In Bulk each answer is a field on a numbered record, traced back through the issue or NCR to the job it came from.
| The question | How Bulk records it | Where you read it |
|---|---|---|
| What went wrong, and how many? | A quality issue with its category, severity, quantity and evidence. A reject recorded at the station raises one automatically. | The Issues list, and the job’s Quality tab |
| Where did it happen? | The issue’s production context: job, step, asset and batch, copied from the recording. | The Details card on the issue |
| What happens to the parts? | A disposition (scrap, rework, use as is, return to supplier or concession) with a quantity and a reason. Setting it resolves the issue. | Status & Assignment, and the Audit Trail |
| Is the suspect stock contained? | A hold with its reason, containment, quarantine area, tag colour and held quantity, released in full, in part or scrapped. | The Holds list and the hold’s Release tab |
| Who decided on the non-conforming material? | The NCR’s MRB disposition, with its justification and conditions, stamped with the name and time. | The Disposition card on the NCR |
| Why did it happen? | Verified root causes in the 8D report’s D4, one marked final, from the plant’s root cause library or entered as custom causes. | The 8D report, and the issue’s Root Cause Analysis card |
| Did the fix hold? | A CAPA effectiveness result, and an 8D report’s 30, 60 and 90-day checks. | The CAPA Verification tab and the 8D Effectiveness Checks |
| Are we getting better? | First pass yield and defect PPM against target, the defect Pareto and the first pass yield trend. | The Quality home, and Dashboards widgets |
Quality reads the floor and drives the fix.
Defects arrive from the station, actions go out as tasks, and the measures land on the dashboards. Quality works on the same records as the rest of Bulk.
- ProductionA reject at the station raises an issue tied to its job.
- Tasks & ProjectsNCR, CAPA and 8D actions become tasks in a Quality project.
- SafetyA safety incident can be the recorded source of an 8D report.
- DashboardsDefect Pareto, FPY trend and NCR aging widgets read the records.
- InvoicingEach invoice’s Quality tab lists defects on the jobs it bills.
- AuditsAn audit finding can be the source of a CAPA or an 8D report.
Questions, answered.
What is quality control software for manufacturing?
Quality control (or quality management) software for manufacturing records defects and non-conforming material, contains suspect stock, decides what happens to it, finds the root cause and checks that the fix held. In Bulk that is five linked, numbered records: quality issues, holds, NCRs, CAPAs and 8D reports. Issues and NCRs carry the production job they came from, and holds, CAPAs and 8D reports link back through them.
Does Bulk work as CAPA software?
Yes. CAPAs are part of the Quality app, not a separate tool. A CAPA is opened from an NCR or quality issue, an audit finding, a customer complaint or a continuous improvement idea, and keeps its source linked. Its corrective and preventive actions become tasks with owners and due dates, Action Progress counts what is complete, in progress and overdue, and it closes only from the Verifying stage, once the effectiveness result is recorded.
Does Bulk work as nonconformance software?
Yes. An NCR is raised on one form with its source (internal, supplier or customer), the affected jobs, the observation and any corrective actions, which become tasks. A reviewer sends it to the material review board, the board’s disposition is recorded with a required justification, and closing is final and written to the compliance audit trail. Create CAPA opens a CAPA pre-filled from the NCR.
How does a defect found on the line become a quality issue?
When an operator records a reject on a production step with a Quality Check, they pick the defect category and Bulk creates a linked quality issue straight away, with the quantity, job, step, asset and batch filled in. The job’s Quality tab then shows the defect and follows the issue’s status. Anything found elsewhere is logged by hand on the Create Quality Issue form.
What does it take to close a quality issue?
A disposition. Choosing scrap, rework, use as is, return to supplier or concession, with a quantity and a reason, moves the issue to Resolved, and only a resolved issue can be closed, by someone with permission to close. Issues that share a status can be dispositioned and closed together, up to 100 at a time.
How are NCRs and the material review board handled?
An NCR moves from Draft to Pending Review, Pending MRB, Dispositioned and Closed. A reviewer approves it for the material review board with a date and location, and the board’s decision (use as is, rework, repair, scrap, return to vendor or downgrade) is recorded with a required justification, any conditions, and the name and time. Closing an NCR is final and written to the compliance audit trail.
What is the difference between a CAPA and an 8D report in Bulk?
A CAPA is a six-stage plan whose actions are tasks, and it is closed from the Verifying stage, where the effectiveness result is recorded. An 8D report is a team investigation through nine disciplines, D0 to D8, with root cause tools built in and effectiveness checks at 30, 60 and 90 days. A quality issue is worked through one or the other, not both.
Which root cause analysis tools are built in?
Five, inside the 8D report: 5W2H and an Is / Is Not table in D2, and a fishbone, a 5 Why chain and a fault tree with AND and OR gates in D4. Fishbone and 5 Why are also on tasks and safety incidents. A record can hold up to five fishbone, 5 Why or fault tree analyses, and they save as you type.
How do quality holds work?
A three-step form records why material is held, how it is contained, which quarantine area it is in, how much is held and what should happen to it. Severity sets the tag colour: red for stop ship, yellow for production hold and orange for quarantine. A hold is released in full, released in part or scrapped, each with a reason, and every partial release is logged.
Which quality metrics does Bulk show?
The Quality home shows first pass yield and defect PPM for the last 30 days against the period before, with default targets of 98% and under 10,000, plus a 30-day defect Pareto and a 90-day first pass yield trend. Live counts show open issues, active holds, and open and overdue NCRs and CAPAs. The same measures are available as dashboard widgets.
Can I see quality problems from the production job or the invoice?
Yes. Jobs, orders and invoices each have a Quality tab listing every linked defect with its phase, quantity, status, disposition, category and asset, and totals of open and resolved defects. On an order or invoice a Job # column shows which job each defect came from.
Is all of Quality generally available?
Yes. Quality issues, NCRs, CAPAs, holds and 8D reports all ship in the Quality app, and none of them carries a Beta badge.
Which templates can help document a root-cause investigation?
Start with the root cause analysis template to frame the problem and test each candidate cause, using the 5 Whys worksheet or fishbone diagram to record possible causes and the evidence behind them. Use the 8D report or CAPA form to carry containment, actions and verification through to closure. The CAPA guide explains that workflow in Bulk.
Do you have forms for process control and supplier quality?
The internal audit checklist records evidence against your own procedures or a standard such as ISO 9001. The control plan records what to check and how to respond, while the control chart and gage R&R worksheet support process and measurement studies. Keep instrument checks on the calibration schedule. For supplier reviews, use the PPAP checklist and supplier scorecard. These are standalone templates; adapt them to your customer requirements and approved procedures.
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