8D report template.
D1 to D8 in your browser. Print it for the customer, or take the Excel version.
The customer's quality engineer wants your 8D by Friday: 46 scratched covers at their receiving, lot 24‑118. Containment has to be in place within a day, the root cause within a week, and every step needs evidence. This template follows the eight disciplines in the order customers ask suppliers to report them.
Prefer a spreadsheet?
The Excel template has D1 to D8 on one sheet, with the containment, root cause and action tables, a due date per discipline and the document checklist in D7.
Free, no email needed. Opens in Excel, or in Google Sheets through File, Import.
The eight disciplines, in short
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D1. Team
Three to six people who know the product and the process, with one leader. Include the people who will carry out the fix.
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D2. Problem description
The defect as the customer sees it, in numbers: part, lot, quantity, where it was found. One defect per 8D.
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D3. Interim containment
Protect the customer now: sort stock, parts in transit and parts at the customer. Record how you know the containment works.
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D4. Root cause
Why it happened and why it was not detected. Give each cause its share of the problem; together they make 100%. Verify by switching the cause on and off.
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D5. Permanent corrective actions
The actions that remove each root cause, with proof that they work before you roll them out.
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D6. Implement and validate
Put the actions in place, end the containment, and show over several lots that the defect is gone.
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D7. Prevent recurrence
Update the FMEA, control plan, work instructions and anything else that let the problem through, here and on similar processes.
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D8. Team recognition
Close the 8D with the customer and thank the team for the work.
One 8D, eight deadlines
Every discipline has its own requested completion date, and the customer asks about all of them. In TeamGuru the 8D is a live record: a due date and status dot per discipline, each discipline marked complete and approved by its responsible person, actions with owners and reminders, attachments, and a PDF export with your logo.
For a supplier 8D, the supplier fills in their own actions with limited access and you approve them. RCCA and 8D run in the same system, so an internal problem and a customer complaint follow one method.
8D report template FAQ
- What is an 8D report?
- A structured problem-solving report in eight disciplines, D1 to D8: team, problem description, containment, root cause, corrective actions, implementation, prevention and recognition. Customers in automotive and other industries ask suppliers for one after a complaint.
- What goes into D4?
- The root causes of the defect and of its escape (why it was not detected), each with its share of the problem, adding up to 100%, and how you verified them. Add a fishbone or 5 Why from the tool menu if it helps.
- What is the difference between D3 and D5?
- D3 contains the problem: it protects the customer while you look for the cause, for example by sorting. D5 removes the cause. Containment ends in D6, once the permanent fix is proven.
- Is it the VDA 8D form?
- It uses the same D1 to D8 disciplines as the VDA and AIAG formats, but it is not an official form. If your customer has its own form, the content carries over discipline by discipline.
- Where is D0?
- Some formats add D0 for planning and emergency response. If your customer asks for it, record it in D1 or D3.
- Is the template free?
- Yes. The online template and the Excel file are free, with no account. Your report lives in the link; we store it only if you ask us to email it to you.
Read next
Every D on time, with evidence
Book a 30-minute call. Tell us how your customers ask for 8Ds, and we show you how it would run in TeamGuru.