How to check supplier certificates for expiry with AI, step by step
Put one supplier on each row, ask the same question of every certificate, and compare the answers with ten your team has already checked. On 412 suppliers the run cost about $0.84, and 46 of the first 50 answers matched the expert's.
Worked example: Northwind Foods
Which certificates can AI read?
Most food safety, quality and environmental certificates follow a fixed layout: the standard, the sites covered, the issue date and the expiry date. AI reads these from a PDF or a photo. Ask for each one as its own column so you can sort and filter the results.
How do you check the answers?
Before you run every supplier, take ten that your team has already checked and put the expert's answer in the next column. DAGL counts where the two agree. Open each case that differs, see which step went wrong, and fix the instructions in plain words.
What does a run cost?
DAGL shows the rows it will read and the cost before anything is sent. For this check, 412 suppliers cost about $0.84. Answers that have not changed since the last run are reused at no cost.
Where it goes wrong
- Scanned copies. A poor scan can hide the expiry date. Send these to review instead of guessing.
- Renewals in progress. A renewal notice is not a certificate. Ask the AI to tell the two apart.
- Other languages. Name the standard in your instructions so the AI looks for it, whatever the language.
Transcript
We start with one supplier, Northwind Foods. First we fetch its certificate from the supplier folder…
“[Quotation from a named procurement expert about checking certificates.]”[Name], [role], [organisation]
Sources
Written by [Founder name], [role] · Updated 24 October 2026: new model prices in the cost line.
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