CAPA (corrective and preventive action) removes the cause of a problem that has happened so it cannot happen again, and carries the lesson to the products, processes and sites where it could happen next. 8D (Eight Disciplines) is the team method automotive customers expect for it: IATF 16949 clause 10.2.3 asks for containment, root-cause analysis, systemic corrective action, verified effectiveness and an updated PFMEA and Control Plan.
Zometric runs nine steps, D0 to D8: intake and triage, team, problem description, containment, root causes, selecting and testing actions, implementing and proving them, preventing recurrence, and closure with team recognition. D0 decides between a full 8D and a short form. The same steps can be shown in the VDA 8D or AIAG CQI-20 wording.
A verified root cause must explain the facts and, where possible, switch the problem on and off. Causes are split into why the defect occurred and why it was not detected, and into technical and systemic causes, because a fix that only covers the part leaves the process that let it through unchanged.
Six problems quality teams describe in their own words — and what changes when the 8D is a gated case instead of a form.
Each discipline has its own checks: an open error blocks the step, and a next-step card says what is missing.
D0 · Intake and triage
A case opens from a customer or supplier complaint, an audit finding, a layered-audit nonconformance or an internal source. Three triage questions suggest a full 8D or a short form; safety, regulatory and critical problems always get a full 8D.
D1–D2 · Team and problem description
Name a sponsor and a team leader, add members, customer or supplier representatives. Describe the problem as requirement against actual, with 5W2H, IS / IS NOT, the error pattern and checks on similar parts, lines and sites.
D3 · Containment
Record containment by location — supplier, work in progress, finished goods, in transit, at the customer — with lots, quantities checked and rejected, and dispositions. Use as is and repair need the customer's authorization; suspect product already shipped needs customer notification.
D4 · Root causes
Work with 5-Why, Ishikawa, IS / IS NOT, Pareto, fault tree, decision matrix, multi-vari or a cause-and-effect matrix, and promote the likely cause to a root cause. The PFMEA chains and Control Plan rows of the project sit beside it, so the team can answer “was it in the FMEA?”.
D5–D6 · Actions and proof
Link corrective and systemic actions to the causes they remove. Fix the acceptance criteria before any result is recorded, test before implementation, then prove after it — optionally against live SPC or inspection data, before and after the change.
D7 · Prevent recurrence
Decide each prevention target: PFMEA, DFMEA, Control Plan, process flow, work instructions, similar products and processes, other sites, lessons learned or an LPA question. Each decision is done, planned with an owner and date, or not applicable with a reason.
D8 · Closure and recognition
Submit a closure summary for sign-off by the team leader and sponsor, plus the customer when the complaint requires it; approvals can be signed electronically. Closure schedules the effectiveness review, 90 days later by default.
Each capability is tied to a decision your team is already trying to make.
Each discipline has its own checks, and an open error blocks the step. A next-step card tells the team leader what is needed to move on — so an 8D cannot be closed without a verified root cause backed by evidence.
Work the problem once and report it in the format the customer demands. Formats define the steps, labels and report layout — including customer workbooks — without changing how the team solves the problem.
Containment actions by location — your plant, in transit, the customer's warehouse — with the affected lots, quantities sorted and dispositions. The clean point is recorded, and containment can only be lifted once the permanent fix is proven, unless the sponsor or a quality manager overrides it with a written reason.
5-Why, Ishikawa, Pareto, Is / Is-Not, fault tree and decision matrix, each on the case record. Root causes are separated into why the defect occurred and why it escaped, with the related PFMEA and Control Plan context beside them.
Prevention is a decision made against real documents. Choose the PFMEA, Control Plan or process flow the lesson applies to and a review flag is raised on it — the loop from a field failure back to the risk analysis is closed in the system, not in a meeting.
An effectiveness review is scheduled at closure. If the problem has come back, the case reopens. A repeat complaint on a closed CAPA raises a flag on it automatically.
Photos and files on every step, e-signed sign-offs, and numbered report versions — initial, interim and final — frozen as issued. A management-review pack exports the whole CAPA picture to Excel.
Similar past cases, proven root causes and actions that worked are suggested from your own CAPAs and FMEAs, each with a citation. No external LLM is used in this module, and the engineer decides what to accept.
Step due dates count from the moment the problem was reported, not from when someone opened the case. These are the defaults of the VDA 8D, CQI-20 and Generic 8D formats; each can be changed in a duplicated format, and complaint and audit deadlines replace them.
| Step | Due after | Due on |
|---|---|---|
| D0 Prepare and react | Due after24 h | Due on3 Mar 09:00 |
| D1 Team | Due after24 h | Due on3 Mar 09:00 |
| D2 Describe the problem | Due after5 days | Due on7 Mar 09:00 |
| D3 Contain | Due after24 h | Due on3 Mar 09:00 |
| D4 Find root causes | Due after15 days | Due on17 Mar 09:00 |
| D5 Choose and test actions | Due after15 days | Due on17 Mar 09:00 |
| D6–D8 Implement, prevent, close | Due after60 days | Due on1 May 09:00 |
Other modules open cases through CAPA and hear back when they change, so nothing is retyped between them.
A complaint opens one CAPA with its own deadlines for containment, root cause and final report. A repeat complaint raises a review flag on the closed CAPA and shows up in its effectiveness review.
Nonconformity findings and layered-audit nonconformances open a CAPA due on the finding's response dates. In D7, a prevention decision can create a draft LPA question.
D4 shows the project's PFMEA chains so a root cause can be linked to them, and a D7 decision raises a review flag on the PFMEA or DFMEA.
D4 shows the Control Plan rows beside the root causes, and a D7 decision on the Control Plan raises a review flag on it.
The case records the operation where the problem arises, from the project's process flow; D7 can flag the Process Flow Diagram for review.
A supplier answers containment, root causes, actions and implementation from a secure link. Nothing changes in the CAPA until the team accepts the answer.
A proof after implementation can point at an SPC stream of the part and show its performance before and after the change.
Inspection results of the part can serve as the proof too, compared over equal periods before and after the action.
A lessons-learned decision in D7 creates an entry in the lessons-learned library, linked back to the CAPA.
Runs the case: triage, the steps, the closure request and the effectiveness review. Receives the reminders for steps due soon or overdue.
Signs the closure with the team leader, and can override a containment removal with a written reason.
Work the disciplines — problem description, containment, analyses, root causes and actions. Triage and closure stay with the team leader and sponsor.
Manage any case, receive the escalations of overdue steps, sign quality-manager sign-offs and can override a containment removal.
Complaint coordinators, audit programme managers and LPA process owners manage the CAPAs opened from their complaints, findings and layered audits.
Answer containment, root causes, actions and implementation for their 8D through the Supplier Portal.
| Zometric CAPA & 8D vs a spreadsheet or Word 8D template | Spreadsheet or Word template | Zometric CAPA & 8D |
|---|---|---|
| Step gates | Any box can be left empty or vague | 52 CAPA rules; open errors block the step and the closure |
| Root causes | One free-text box | Technical and systemic causes of occurrence and non-detection, each verified with evidence |
| Containment exit | Stopped when it feels safe | Removed only after a passed proof, or overridden with a reason |
| Due dates | Typed by hand, rarely chased | Counted from the report date, with reminders and escalation |
| PFMEA and Control Plan | "Updated" written in D7 | A D7 decision is required and raises a review flag on the document |
| Customer formats | A different file for each customer | One case; VDA 8D, CQI-20 or customer formats and workbooks |
| Effectiveness | Rarely checked after closure | Review scheduled at closure; a failed review reopens the case |
| Versions and sign-off | "8D_final_v2" sent by e-mail | Numbered report versions frozen as issued, with electronic signature |
The 8D report in VDA 8D, CQI-20 or generic layout on screen, with a print layout for PDF and an Excel workbook with one sheet per discipline.
Upload the customer's blank 8D workbook, map its cells once, and fill it from any issued report version.
Export the CAPA register with its KPIs, and a management-review pack with trend, sources, cause Pareto, open and closed cases and effectiveness, to Excel.
Load customer cause catalogues, format texts and assessment criteria from Excel or CSV.
Cases, steps, team, containment, root causes and sign-offs are available through the REST API, with a webhook when a case changes status.
Zometric's modules share a single data backbone — adopting more of them compounds the signal-to-noise advantage.
Straight answers to the questions teams ask before a demo.
CAPA (corrective and preventive action) is the requirement: remove the cause of a problem so it does not come back, and prevent it elsewhere. 8D is a structured team method for doing it, in eight disciplines from team to closure. Zometric runs every CAPA as an 8D case with nine steps, D0 to D8, where D0 decides between a full 8D and a short form.
Zometric ships three formats: VDA 8D, CQI-20 problem solving and a Generic 8D. A format sets the step names, required root-cause classes, verification level, sign-offs, due dates and report layout. Formats can be duplicated and adjusted for a customer, and a customer's own 8D workbook can be filled from an issued report version.
At triage, three questions suggest the approach: whether the cause is known, whether the problem description is complete, and whether the problem exceeds one person. Safety, regulatory and critical problems always get a full 8D, and so do customer complaints unless the format allows a short form. A short form that turns out bigger can be escalated to a full 8D without losing data.
Due dates count from when the problem was reported. The default is 24 hours for containment, 15 days for root causes and the action plan, and 60 days for implementation, prevention and closure. A complaint's deadlines or an audit finding's response times replace them, and a step more than three days overdue is escalated to the quality managers.
Only after the corrective actions have a passed proof after implementation. A format can also require the customer's exit approval or a clean period after the clean point. Removing containment earlier needs a sponsor or quality manager and a written reason, which is kept with the record.
Closure schedules an effectiveness review, 90 days later by default. Repeat complaints since closure appear as recurrence signals, and confirming effectiveness despite them needs a written justification. A failed review reopens the case from the chosen step, or keeps it closed and starts a linked repeat CAPA.
Yes. Through the Supplier Portal, a supplier answers containment, root causes, corrective actions and implementation from a secure link. Their answers stay proposals: nothing is written into the CAPA until the team accepts them, and accepted root causes start as most likely, not verified.
No. Suggestions for root causes, actions and prevention targets come from a local engine that searches your own past CAPAs and FMEAs, each with a citation. No external LLM is used, and nothing is added to the case until an engineer accepts it.
A 30-minute discovery call. A 2–3 week pilot on real factory data. Then scale at your pace.
