Supplier Specifications let you capture what a supplier declares about a raw material — especially its allergens — by uploading the supplier's spec document and letting QTRACA's AI read it for you. Those declared allergens then become the benchmark for the Inwards Goods allergen check, which verifies the actual label on the goods you receive against what the supplier said. Together they form a closed loop: declare → receive → verify.

Where to find it: open a supplier's product (Supplier → Supplier Product) and use the Specification section.

The big picture

Supplier spec document (PDF/Word/Excel)
        │  upload
        ▼
   AI extraction  ──►  Allergen override list  (what we expect this material to contain)
                                  │
                                  ▼
        Inwards Goods receiving  ──►  Allergen check
        (OCR the actual label, compare to the expected list)  ──►  MATCH / MISMATCH

You only have to set the spec up once per supplier-product. From then on, every receipt of that material can be checked against it.

Part 1 — Capturing a Supplier Specification

What it is

A Supplier Specification is a digital record of a supplier's product information for one supplier + raw material pair (e.g. "Acme Corp — All-Purpose Flour"). It is versioned: each document you upload becomes v1, v2, v3, and so on.

Upload & AI extraction

  1. On the supplier product, open the Specification section and upload the supplier's spec document. Supported formats: PDF, Word (.docx), Excel (.xlsx).
  2. QTRACA reads the document with AI (Claude, via AWS Bedrock). Extraction runs in the background — you'll see the status move from pending → processing → processed (or error if the document can't be read).
  3. When it's processed, the extracted information is shown for you to review.

What the AI pulls out:

  • Declared allergens, each with a status — Present ("Contains") or May contain (precautionary / cross-contact) — and a source note (the ingredient or evidence it came from).
  • Light metadata: the supplier's PIF/spec reference number, spec version label (e.g. "Rev 3.2"), target regions (e.g. AU-NZ, USA), the verbatim Contains statement, and the ingredient statement.

Allergen names are standardised. Extracted allergens are matched to your site's master allergen list (milk, soy, sesame, the individual tree nuts, gluten cereals, etc.), so a supplier's wording is normalised to the canonical allergen your site uses everywhere else.

The Allergen Override list

The override list is QTRACA's single source of truth for "what we expect this material to contain." It's what the receiving check compares against.

  • Apply from a version — on a processed version, click Apply to override to populate the override list from the AI-extracted allergens. This replaces the whole override list (a hint in the screen reminds you of this), so it always reflects one chosen version.
  • Add manually — for allergens the AI missed, or for materials with no spec document at all, use the inline add-row below the table: pick the allergen, choose Present or May contain, add an optional note, and click Add.
  • Remove — drop any row with its trash icon.

Versions

  • Each upload is a new version; you can mark one as current (without changing the override list).
  • Compare two versions side-by-side to see exactly which allergen declarations changed (added, removed, or status changed) and any metadata differences — useful when a supplier sends a revised spec.

Part 2 — The Inwards Goods Allergen Check

When you receive a raw material, QTRACA can verify that the physical label on the goods matches the allergens your supplier declared.

How it works

  1. While receiving (an inwards goods line), if the supplier product is set to require an allergen check, the line asks for an allergen check.
  2. You upload a photo of the product's actual label (the packaging you received).
  3. QTRACA runs OCR on the image and reads the label's ingredient list, Contains statement, may-contain / precautionary warnings, and facility warnings.
  4. It compares the allergens detected on the label against the expected allergens — i.e. the supplier-spec override list for that supplier-product (falling back to the product's own allergen master if no override exists).
  5. You get a clear result:
    • Match — the label agrees with the supplier spec; receiving proceeds.
    • Mismatch — the label shows an allergen that isn't expected, or is missing one that is. The line is flagged for review.
  6. If appropriate, an authorised user can override a mismatch (for example, the spec is out of date but the label is correct) — the override is recorded with who approved it and when.

When the check is required

The check runs only when both are switched on:

  • the account-level allergen-check setting, and
  • the Record allergen check flag on that specific supplier product.

If the same material/supplier is already in stock, the line is treated as not required (goods already verified and on-site don't need re-checking).

The value — why this matters

  • Catches undeclared allergens at the door. Suppliers change formulations or move to shared facilities and don't always reissue their spec. Comparing the real label to the declared list catches that before the material enters production.
  • Prevents allergen-driven recalls. Stopping a mismatch at receiving stops an undeclared allergen from ending up in a finished product.
  • Creates audit evidence. Every line records whether a check was required, the detected vs. expected allergens, and any override (who/when) — the kind of receiving-stage allergen verification that FSANZ, HACCP/FSMA and EU FIR audits look for.
  • Holds suppliers accountable. The declared-vs-received trail supports supplier corrective actions when physical goods don't match the paperwork.

Tips

  • Apply a version to the override as soon as a spec is processed, so the receiving check always compares against a real, chosen version.
  • Keep the override current by re-uploading revised supplier specs and re-applying — use Compare to see what changed.
  • Turn on Record allergen check for high-risk materials (anything carrying or cross-contacting a regulated allergen) so receiving staff are prompted every time.