The CAPA Command Kit Handbook
A complete, practical corrective action system for aerospace suppliers: take problems in, contain them, find the real cause, act, prove the action worked, and keep the whole system moving without chasing people all week.
Want it on paper or to edit? The full handbook, with the forms to fill in, is free in Word and PDF: get it free.
The problem it solves
In most small aerospace shops the trouble isn't passing the audit. It's keeping corrective action working between audits: actions closed on paper but not in practice, causes that stop at 'operator error', the same nonconformance back under a new number, and a quality manager who spends the week chasing owners. This handbook is the operating manual for the CAPA Command Kit. It sets out one workflow from intake to proof, who does what, which tool to use at each stage, how to run the weekly and monthly rhythm, and how to set the whole thing up in thirty days without buying new software.
Who it is for
Quality directors and quality managers who own the corrective action process, and the general manager who sponsors it.
When to use it
When your corrective action log has overdue actions, repeats or effectiveness findings; when you take over a quality system; or a quarter before a surveillance or recertification audit.
How to use this handbook
- Read chapters 1 and 2: why corrective action systems stall, and the workflow this kit runs.
- Agree the roles in chapter 3 with your general manager before you change anything.
- Follow the thirty-day setup in chapter 11, using the tools named at each stage.
- Run the weekly review and monthly metrics in chapter 10 from the first week.
- Give your general manager the one-page summary in chapter 12.
- Use the worked example in chapter 13 to see every tool used on one real-looking problem.
The chapters
- 1Why corrective action systems stallCorrective action is the part of a quality system that should get better every month.
- 2The CAPA Command workflowEvery problem moves through the same stages. The shaded boxes are gates: Yes continues down, No goes to the note on…
- 3Who does whatA corrective action system needs an owner for the system and an owner for every action.
- 4Intake and triageEverything comes in through one door: NCRs, customer complaints and escapes, internal and external audit findings…
- 5Containment and correctionContainment protects the customer while you investigate. It is not the corrective action, and it should not wait for…
- 6InvestigationPick the method for the problem, not for the form (B04). A single chain of events gets a careful 5 Whys (B06).
- 7Planning the corrective actionNot all actions are equally strong. Choose the strongest one that is practical, and say why when you choose a weaker…
- 8Proving it workedWrite the effectiveness criterion before the action goes in: what you will measure, over what window, and what result…
- 9EscalationAn action that stalls needs to reach someone who can unblock it, on a rule everyone knows in advance.
- 10Running the systemA weekly review that works has a fixed agenda: verifications due this week; actions overdue or blocked, each with one…
- 11Setting it up in thirty daysDo: Agree roles and response times with the general manager. Put every open problem and corrective action into one…
- 12For your general manager: one pageFill this in and hand it over. It says what changes, what you need, and what they will see.
- 13Worked example: one problem through the whole kitIntake (B02): customer reject report CR-118, 4 of 40 housings with an oversize bore.
- 14The kit at a glanceTool: CAPA Intake and Prioritization Tool; Containment and Corrective Action Verification Checklist; Quality Escape…
- 15Where the kit touches AS9100DClause numbers only; read the requirements in your own copy of the standard. The kit is a way of meeting them in…
Aegis Insights: how we approach this work
Aegis Insights are our own guidance: how we approach this work and why, from years inside aerospace quality systems. They are not requirements of any standard or customer.
Definitions
| Term | What it means here |
|---|---|
| Corrective action | Action that removes the cause of a nonconformity, or controls it, so it does not happen again. |
| Correction | What is done with the nonconforming product itself. |
| Containment | Immediate steps that protect the customer while the cause is found. |
| Root cause | The condition of the process or system that, removed, stops the problem from recurring. |
| Escape cause | Why the nonconformity was not detected before it left the process or the plant. |
| Effectiveness criterion | A measurable result, set before the action is implemented, that shows it worked. |
| Verification window | The period after implementation over which the criterion is measured. |
| Triage | Deciding, for each new problem, whether it needs a corrective action, its priority and its owner. |
| Repeat | The same failure mode recurring, on the same or a similar part, process or supplier. |
| Escalation | Moving a stalled or high-risk action to someone who can unblock it, on an agreed rule. |
| 8D | Eight disciplines: a team-based, step-by-step method for solving and preventing a problem. |
| CAR | Corrective action request: a formal request to a department or supplier to investigate and act. |
| Program health | How well the corrective action system as a whole is working, measured over time. |
Need more than one resource, or not sure where to start? Book a complimentary 30-minute Aegis Quality Guidance Call. We'll find the tools that fit your situation and a sensible place to start. No sales pressure, no obligation.
Response times, windows and escalation thresholds here are starting points; set your own to fit your products and your customers' requirements, which come first where they are stricter.
A management aid, not certification or a registrar audit. Using it does not by itself show conformity to AS9100D or any other standard, and your customers' requirements may add to it.
Clause numbers refer to AS9100D (SAE AS9100 Rev D) unless another document is named. The standards' text is not reproduced here: use your own licensed copy.