The supplier sends the wrong certificate
The batch reference and the sender are checked against the lot, then reconciled against the certificate contents. When they disagree, the document is filed but it is not linked to the lot, and the lot keeps chasing.
The reasoning: a supplier attaching the wrong PDF and following it with the right one is the common case. Linking the first would leave two certificates against one lot with nothing to indicate which is authoritative. An unlinked document with an open chase is a recoverable state. Two conflicting linked certificates is not.
The certificate cannot be read
Some certificates are scans. Some are images in a PDF wrapper. Some are password protected.
When nothing can be extracted, the system raises a parsing exception rather than filing a document that appears complete and is not. The document is still stored and still reachable. It is just not counted as evidence until a person has looked at it.
The document is too large
Above a size ceiling the document is recorded with its parse method noted as none, rather than downloaded. It appears as a document requiring manual handling. It does not disappear and it does not silently succeed.
The message cannot be attributed to a client
Rare, but it happens with forwarded mail. The message is left unread, an alert fires, and a person handles it. It is never guessed at.
The supplier never replies at all
The ladder runs to its end, the lot escalates, an exception opens and automated chasing stops. The lot is now an open exception with a complete chase history attached: what was sent, when, and to whom.
That history is the point. “The supplier did not send it” is not a defence at audit. “The supplier did not send it, here are the documented requests and the escalation” is.
| Batch ref | Type | Severity | Status | Opened | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TPL-LOT-002 | Missing COA | High | Open | 2026-08-18 16:00:07 | Auto-raised by WF1 after 3 chases over 25 days with no COA received. |
| none | Parsing Failure | Medium | Open | 2026-08-14 08:47:55 | Attachment could not be read. Flat scan with no extractable text and no batch reference in the subject. Document stored but not counted as evidence until reviewed. |
| TPL-LOT-003 | Missing COA | High | Open | 2026-08-11 16:00:25 | Auto-raised by WF1 after 3 chases over 23 days with no COA received. |
| TPL-LOT-002 | Traceability Conflict | High | Open | 2026-08-09 18:21:04 | Batch TPL-LOT-002 was submitted under PO TPL-PO-999 but is already logged against a different PO. Confirm which PO this batch belongs to and correct the record. |
| TPL-LOT-005 | Missing Fields | Medium | Open | 2026-08-06 15:14:03 | No supplier email address on file for Template NoContact Ltd. COA cannot be chased for this batch until one is added. |
| TPL-LOT-004 | Missing COA | High | Open | 2026-08-06 15:13:59 | Auto-raised by WF1 after 3 chases over 25 days with no COA received. |
| TPL-LOT-010 | Missing COA | High | Open | 2026-07-28 09:00:05 | Auto-raised by WF1 after 3 chases over 22 days with no COA received. Automated chasing stopped for this batch. |
| TPL-LOT-006 | Missing COA | Medium | Resolved | 2026-07-30 09:00:04 | COA received 4 August and matched to the lot at high confidence. Lot released. |
Why show you this
Because you are going to hit these cases in month one, and it is better that you see them now than discover them after signing.
A system that hides its failure modes is not more reliable. It is just quieter about them, and quiet failures are the expensive kind.
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