← The Aegis Quality Resource Library
Quality Escape Investigation Template
For product that reached a customer: the timeline, every suspect part by location, what the customer was told and when, the detection point that failed and why, and actions at both the cause and the escape point.
Free to use, change and copy inside your own organization. Editable Word, plus a fillable PDF you can complete on screen.
The problem it solves
When a customer finds the defect, the effort goes into answering the customer quickly. The investigation explains why the part was made wrong, and the harder question, why every check between the machine and the dock let it through, gets 'added 100 percent inspection' as its answer, indefinitely. The facts live in emails, the timeline is rebuilt from memory a week later, and the response to the customer tells a slightly different story from the internal record. This template keeps the whole escape in one record: a timeline started on day one, containment by location with a number in every row, each customer contact, the detection points the part passed and the one that failed, and actions aimed at the escape point as well as the root cause.
Who uses it, and when
Quality managers and quality engineers who own a customer escape, with production, engineering and whoever speaks to the customer. Opened the day a customer reports a nonconformance found at their receiving, on their line or in service, or the day you learn nonconforming product has shipped. Kept up to date until the customer accepts the response and the effectiveness check is complete.
Part of
CAPA Command Kit, Customer Complaint Response Kit.
Clause references: 8.7.1, 8.7.2, 10.2.1, 10.2.2 (with 8.6). Clause numbers only; the standards text is not reproduced, use your own licensed copy.
A management aid, not certification or a registrar audit. Using it does not by itself show conformity to AS9100D or any other standard.
Page 1 of the PDF. Every resource includes a worked example.
Related resources
guide · Word · fillable PDFRoot Cause Analysis Decision Tree
Which method fits the problem in front of you, how far to dig, and the tests that tell a root cause from a convenient stopping point.
Free download →
template · Word · fillable PDFFive Whys Investigation Template
A why chain where every answer carries the evidence behind it, a stop test that tells you when you have reached a cause you can change, and a second chain for why the problem got out.
Free download →
checklist · Word · fillable PDFContainment and Corrective Action Verification Checklist
Two checklists: one to confirm containment reached every suspect part, wherever it is, and one to confirm a corrective action is in place where the work is done and has worked, before anyone signs it closed.
Free download →
guide · Word · fillable PDFCAPA Escalation Criteria and Owner Accountability Guide
When a corrective action moves up, to whom, and what the escalation asks for; who owns each part of a corrective action; and a meeting rhythm that keeps actions moving without a chase.
Free download →
workbook · Excel · fillable PDF8D Problem-Solving Workbook
One tab per discipline, D0 to D8, rolled up to a status page: an is / is-not table, containment that is verified, root and escape causes confirmed with data, an effectiveness criterion set before the actions go in, and prevention carried to similar processes.
Free with your email →
worksheet · Excel · fillable PDFCAPA Effectiveness Verification Worksheet
Prove a corrective action worked, not just that it was done: separate containment, correction and corrective action, set a measurable criterion before the action goes in, and hold the record open until the evidence is in.
Free with your email →
These tools help you run the work by hand. When you want the whole picture of your quality system from the records you already keep, that's what the AeroAssure Audit Defense Pack and the IA9100 Transition Gap Analysis do.