Supplier relapse trigger register
Use this register immediately after a supplier is normalized or allowed to continue under guardrails. It turns vague “watch carefully” language into explicit trigger signals, evidence owners, response deadlines, and automatic restriction actions.
Why this exists
Many supplier recovery decisions fail because the team approves normalization but forgets to define what counts as relapse. This register makes the rollback rule visible before the next ordinary order is released.
Use after
- Supplier normalization approval memo is signed.
- Guardrails are reduced but not fully removed.
- A buyer plans a higher-value, higher-volume, or time-sensitive repeat order.
Register fields
| Field | What to record | Action rule |
|---|---|---|
| Relapse signal | Late milestone, repeated quality defect, document mismatch, payment-account inconsistency, evasive reply, missing corrective evidence, or after-sales failure. | Defines the exact condition that reopens restriction review. |
| Evidence owner | Buyer, QC, logistics, finance, warehouse, customer service, or project owner responsible for proof. | Prevents relapse signals from becoming undocumented opinions. |
| Response deadline | Same day, 48 hours, before balance payment, before shipment release, or before next PO approval. | Links the trigger to an operational stop point. |
| Automatic restriction | Watch, shipment gate, value cap, payment hold, backup activation, or exit restart. | Removes debate once the trigger is confirmed. |
| Reopen criteria | Evidence required to move from restriction back to watch or normal status. | Stops repeated temporary exceptions from becoming permanent. |
Starter trigger examples
- Delivery relapse: more than 3 working days behind confirmed production milestone without dated recovery proof.
- Quality relapse: same defect family appears again after corrective action closure.
- Document relapse: invoice, packing list, carton mark, or certificate differs from approved order data.
- Communication relapse: supplier avoids evidence request twice within one review cycle.
Copy-ready rule
“If [trigger] occurs for [supplier/scope], [owner] must collect [evidence] by [deadline]. Until resolved, supplier status automatically becomes [watch/cap/hold/exit restart], and the next order may not proceed beyond [gate].”
Connected workflow
This register is the rollback companion to normalization. Link it to the approval memo and keep it visible in the next-order restriction register so buyers know which signal immediately reverses a supplier’s recovered status.
Connected tools: supplier normalization approval memo, supplier next-order restriction register, ordinary order first-month monitoring checklist, and supplier risk early-warning log.