Product tools · Order stage
BetaVDRL/MDR tracker: turn the customer's document list into a deliverables register
The VDRL/MDR Tracker turns the customer's vendor document requirements list into a register of every contractual document. It reads the VDRL spreadsheet, PO document clauses, customer instructions and project schedule, then sets due dates, revision and status for each item. Document controllers and project managers get overdue and missing documents flagged.
VDRL/MDR Tracker is in beta. Request access and we onboard each team ourselves: we run your first real documents with you and check the results together.
Last reviewed:
What goes in and what you get out
What goes in
- VDRL / MDR / SDRL spreadsheet (required)
- Purchase-order document clauses (optional)
- Customer document instructions (optional)
- Project schedule (optional)
What it checks
- Derive due dates from the schedule
- Flag overdue documents
- Assess final-document completeness
What you get out
- One register row per required deliverable, keeping the customer's row identity
- Due dates, current revision and customer status for each document, with the clause each date rule comes from
- Overdue first submissions and overdue resubmissions flagged
- Missing or ambiguous due dates and documents the PO requires but the list leaves out, exportable as CSV or JSON
Who uses it: Document controllers, Project managers, Project engineers, Quality engineers.
20 questions about the VDRL/MDR Tracker
What is a VDRL?
A VDRL, or vendor document requirements list, is the customer's list of every document a supplier must submit for an order. It usually gives each document a number or code, says whether it is for review or for information, and sets when it is due. Typical items are drawings, datasheets, procedures, the inspection and test plan, certificates, manuals and the final record book.
What is the difference between a VDRL, an SDRL and an MDR?
The names vary by customer. A VDRL and an SDRL, a supplier document requirements list, are usually the same thing under different names. MDR is used in different ways: some customers mean a master document register, others a manufacturer's data record. Check the definitions in your order. The tracker accepts any of these lists as its main input.
What are review codes on vendor documents?
When a customer reviews a submitted document, it returns a status code. Many customers use something like Code 1 for approved, Code 2 for approved with comments, and Code 3 for revise and resubmit, but the meaning of each code is set by your order. The code decides your next step, such as resubmitting or going ahead with manufacturing.
What does the VDRL/MDR Tracker do?
It reads the customer's document list and builds a register with one row for every required deliverable. For each row, it records the due-date rule, the current revision and the customer status, each traced to its source. It flags overdue documents, missing or unclear due dates, and documents the PO requires that the list leaves out. It also checks final-document completeness.
Which documents do I upload to the VDRL/MDR Tracker?
The VDRL, MDR or SDRL spreadsheet is required. You can add the purchase-order document clauses, the customer's document instructions and your project schedule. The schedule lets the tracker work out dates that depend on milestones, such as a set number of weeks before the factory acceptance test. The PO clauses help it find required documents missing from the list.
How are vendor document due dates usually set?
Most lists set due dates relative to an event rather than as fixed dates. Examples are a number of weeks after the purchase order, or a number of days before a test or shipment. Resubmissions are often due a set time after the customer returns comments. To get real dates, you have to combine the list with the order date and the project schedule.
How do you track a VDRL by hand?
Most teams copy the customer's list into a spreadsheet. They add columns for due date, revision, submission date, transmittal number, customer code and return date, then update it after every submission and reply. They work out due dates from the schedule by hand. It works, but dates go stale when the schedule moves, and resubmissions are easy to lose track of.
What are the most common VDRL tracking mistakes?
Common ones are missing a resubmission after a document comes back for revision, working from an old schedule, and sending the wrong revision. Another is missing a document that the PO clauses ask for but the VDRL leaves out. Late or rejected documents can hold up inspections, shipment and sometimes payment, where the order links milestones to approved documents.
What does the customer's document controller expect?
They expect each document with the right document number, title and revision, in their format, with a transmittal that lists what is sent and why. They expect resubmissions to answer every comment and to show what changed. They also expect the supplier to keep its own register up to date, so both sides agree on what is outstanding.
What is a transmittal?
A transmittal is the cover record sent with a set of documents. It lists each document number, title and revision, the purpose of the submission, such as for review or for information, and the date. It is the proof of what was sent and when. Customers often check transmittals when there is a dispute about whether a document was late.
What happens when a due date in the VDRL is unclear?
The tracker does not guess. If a date rule is missing, conflicts with another clause, or depends on a milestone that is not in the schedule you uploaded, the row is flagged for review. You can then ask the customer or fix the schedule. A guessed date that looks precise is worse than an open question, so these rows stay visible.
What are final documents in a VDRL?
Final documents are the ones due at or near the end of the order. They usually include as-built or final drawings, installation and operating manuals, spare parts lists and the manufacturing record book. They are often the last items blocking final payment or handover. The tracker's completeness check shows which final documents are still missing or not yet approved.
How does the tracker flag overdue documents?
It compares each document's due date with its status. A first submission past its due date is flagged as overdue. So is a resubmission that is late after the customer returned the document for revision. Each flag shows the date rule and the clause or schedule entry it came from, so you can check how the date was set.
Why compare the VDRL with the purchase-order clauses?
The VDRL is not always complete. A PO clause or attachment may ask for a document, such as a specific test report or certificate, that never made it onto the list. If you only follow the list, that document is missed until the end of the order. The tracker reports documents required by the PO that the list does not include.
What do I get back from the VDRL/MDR Tracker?
You get a register with one row per required document, keeping the customer's row numbering. Each row has its due date, revision and status, with the source of each. Overdue items, unclear dates and missing deliverables are flagged. You can export the register as CSV or JSON and use it alongside your own document control system.
Does the VDRL/MDR Tracker submit documents to the customer?
No. It builds and checks the register; your document controller still prepares and sends each submission. It does not connect to the customer's document portal, and it does not change any document. Treat it as a careful check of your register and dates, with every point traced back to the clause or schedule entry behind it.
What are the limits of the VDRL/MDR Tracker?
It only knows what is in the files you upload. If the customer status of a document lives only in an email or a portal, the tracker cannot see it unless you include it. It cannot derive milestone dates without a schedule. It reads text and tables, not engineering drawings. The tool is in beta, so we review each team's first runs with them.
Who uses the VDRL/MDR Tracker?
Document controllers use it to build and check the register at the start of an order. Project managers use it to see what is overdue and what could hold up inspection or shipment. At smaller makers, where the project manager also handles documents, it saves rebuilding the customer's list by hand for each new order.
Is the VDRL/MDR Tracker available now?
The VDRL/MDR Tracker is in beta. You can request access, and we onboard each team ourselves: we agree a real document list and schedule to start with, run them with you, and check the results together. That way you see how it handles your customer's format before you rely on it. Document Review, our production tool, is generally available.
Which tools come before and after the VDRL/MDR Tracker?
Before it, the Quotation-to-PO Review checks the purchase order against your quotation, including any extra documents the PO adds. After it, the Material Certificate Review checks the material certificates, which are among the first quality records the document list calls for once manufacturing starts.
Where it sits in the order lifecycle
Related standards, guides and templates
Try the VDRL/MDR Tracker on your own documents
Tell us which documents you want to check first. We set up your workspace and run the first package with you.