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Basic Quality Control

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In this article, I explain three fundamental concepts that every buyer This is the o cial blog of
should be familiar with when it comes to quality control and Sofeast.com.

inspections: This blog is written by

Renaud Anjoran, an ASQ
Certi ed Quality
1. Inspection levels Engineer who has been
2. The AQL involved in Chinese
3. When to inspect? manufacturing since
2005.

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From the buyer’s activities newsletter
a batch of products meet speci cations. The most common activity is
the nal inspection, which means checking some products against a
First Name
checklist, and getting to a pass/fail result.

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The 3 Fundamental QC Concepts E-Mail Addre

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1. Inspection levels
QC Basics (Part 1): Inspection Levels
Connect with
us
Read and clip the slides for the above video on inspection
levels here.
Why use random sampling?
Shipments often represent thousands of products. Checking 100% of
the quantity would be long and expensive. A solution is to select
samples at random
Homeand inspect them, instead
Articles of checking
Best Of the whole
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lot.

But how many samples to select? On the one hand, checking only a
few pieces might prevent the inspector from noticing quality issues; on
the other hand, the objective is to keep the inspection short by
reducing the number of samples to check.

The relevant standards propose a standard severity, called “normal

level”, which is designed to balance these two imperatives in the most
e cient manner.

Within this normal severity, there are three general levels: I, II, and III.
Level II is used for more than 90% of inspections. For example, for an
order of 8,000 products, only 200 samples are checked.

Military Standard 105 was created by the US Department of Defense to Latest Articles
control their procurements more e ciently. In 1994 they decided to rely
The Basics of Quality
on non-governmental organizations to maintain this type of standard. Management for Buyers
The ANSI, ISO, and other institutes all created their own standard, but in [Podcast]
essence, they are similar. The major third-party QC rms use the same
Should You Avoid the
standards and the same statistical tables. Words “Defects” and
“Defectives”?
When to adopt a di erent level? An Introduction to Root
Cause Analysis (Not Just
Suppose you source a product from a factory that often ships for Manufacturing)
substandard quality. You know that the risk is higher than average. How
to increase the discriminating power of the inspection? You can opt for Factory Testing Facilities
| Vetting Chinese
level III, and more samples will be checked. Suppliers (Part 8)
[Podcast]
Similarly, if a supplier has consistently delivered acceptable products in Using Reliability
Engineering for
the past and keeps its organization unchanged, you can choose level I. Designing a More
As fewer samples have to be checked, the inspection might take less Durable Product
time and be cheaper.

The relevant standards give no indication about when to switch Categories

Home
inspection levels, Articlesrely on their
so most importers Best“gut
Of feeling”.About
(Not toUsbe Contact us 
Quality Control Tips
confused with the severity — I wrote about this here.)
Sourcing New Suppliers

The “special levels” Supplier Management

Inspectors frequently have to perform some special tests on the New Product
products they are checking. In some cases the tests can only be Development

performed on very few samples, for two reasons: Process Improvement

Ethical Sourcing
1. They might take a long time (e.g. doing a full function test as per
claims on the retail box).
2. They end up in product destruction. (e.g. unstitching a jacket to
Archives
check the lining fabric).
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For these situations only, the inspector can choose a “special level”.

So we have three “general” inspection levels, and four “special levels”.

For a given order quantity, each level gives a di erent number of
samples to check. Let’s see how it plays in two examples.

Example 1: you order 40,000 products

The number of samples to draw varies from 8 to 800. Depending on the

level you choose, the inspection might take only one inspector for one
day, or up to 4 or 5 days of work.

Example 2: you order 3,000 products

Note: do not mix up “inspection levels” (I, II, III, S-1, S-2, S-3, S-4) and “inspection severity”
(reduced, normal, tightened). They are di erent concepts. The above examples are
based on a “normal” severity.
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2. The AQL (Acceptance Quality

Limit)
Quality Control Basics (Part 2): The AQL (Acceptance …

Read and clip the slides for the above video on the AQL here.
In part 1, we explained the di erent inspection levels that can be used.
Another basic concept rings familiar to many importers but is often not
clearly understood: the AQL (Acceptance Quality Limit).

There is no such thing as zero defect

First, as a buyer, you have to know what proportion of defects is

tolerated on your market. If you are in the aviation business, any
defective part might cause a disaster, so your tolerance will be very,
very low. But you will have to accept a higher percentage of defects if
you source consumer products that are assembled by hand in China or
in India.

An objective limit is necessary

So, how many defects are too many? It is up to you, as a buyer, to make
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this decision. There are two reasons why you should not leave this to
the inspector’s judgment:

1. When it comes to giving instructions to an inspector, you should

never leave gray areas—as they might open the door to
corruption.
2. Your supplier should have clear criteria for acceptability, or they
will see rejections as unfair.

The AQL is the proportion of defects allowed by the buyer. It should be

communicated to the supplier in advance.

The three categories of defects

Some defects are much worse than others. Three categories are
typically distinguished:

Critical defects might harm a user or cause a whole shipment to be

blocked by the customs.
Major defects are not accepted by most consumers, who decide not
to buy the product.
Minor defects also represent a departure from speci cations, but
some consumers would still buy the product.

For most consumer products, critical defects are not allowed, and the
AQL for major defects and minor defects are 2.5% and 4.0% respectively.

Some important remarks:

A professional inspector will notice defects and evaluate their
category by himself. But it is better if the buyer himself describes the
most frequent defects and assigns categories to each one.
Defects can be on the product itself, on the labeling or on the
packaging.
If one sample presents several defects, only the most severe one is
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How to read the AQL tables

The master tables included in the relevant standards are commonly

called AQL tables. Let’s take an example.

You buy 8,000 widgets from a factory, and you choose inspection level
II. In the table below (which is only valid for single sampling plans), you
see that the corresponding letter is L.

AQL table 1 (sample code letters):

Now let’s turn to the next table (which is only appropriate for normal-
severity inspections). The letter L gives you the number of samples to
draw at random: 200 pcs.

And what about the AQL? Let’s say you follow the usual practice of
tolerating 0% of critical defects, 2.5% of major defects, and 4.0% of
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and 14 minor. In other words, the inspection is failed if you nd at least 1

critical defect and/or at least 11 major defects and/or at least 15 minor
defects.

AQL table 2:

Notes:
These 2 tables are only useful for inspections under normal severity.
See all the tables for single sampling on AQL tables.
More information about the AQL here.

Additional notes, for accuracy

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The number of defects is not the only cause for acceptance of
refusal. The products can be refused because they do not conform
to the buyer’s speci cations, even though their workmanship is very
good.
If you have two di erent products (made with di erent processes or
in di erent factories), you should do two separate inspections. If you
inspect them together, one product might be accepted even though
it presents too many defects. Why? Because the better
workmanship of the other product might “compensate” for its poor
quality.

3. When to inspect?
 

Quality Control Basics (Part 3): When To Do Product Q…

Q…

Read and clip the slides for the above video on the product
inspections here.
The rst two parts focused on the di erent inspection levels and on the
AQL tables. So you know how to set the number of samples to check
and how many defects have to be accepted. With these settings and
your detailed product speci cations, a QC inspector can check your
products and reach a conclusion (passed or failed).

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But importers face one more Articles
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should About beUs Contact us 

inspected? This is an extremely important issue for buyers willing to

secure their supply chain. Spending a few hundreds of dollars to check
and x issues early can be an excellent investment; if might save you
weeks of delay, shipments by air, and/or lower quality products that
you have to accept and deliver to your own customers.

Four types of inspections

Let’s picture the simpli ed model where one factory turns raw materials
into nished products. (If you also have to manage the quality of sub-
suppliers’ products, the same model can be applied to them)

Pre-production inspection

This type of inspection is necessary if you want to check the raw

materials or components that will be used in production. Buying
cheaper materials can increase a factory’s margin considerably, so you
should keep an eye on this risk. It can also be used to monitor the
processes followed by the operators.

During production inspection

This inspection allows you to get a good idea of average product
quality, and to ask for corrections if problems are found. It can take
place as soon as the rst nished products get o the line, but these
samples might not be representative of the whole order. So usually an
inspection during production is done after 10-30% of the products are
nished.
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Final (pre-shipment) inspection

Inspecting the goods after they are made and packed is the standard
QC solution of most importers. The inspector can really check every
detail, including counting the total quantity and con rming the
packaging. Final inspections are usually performed in a hurry, just
before shipment. To avoid creating delays, inspectors can usually start
after all products are nished and 80%+ of the shipment quantity is
packed.

Loading supervision

In some cases, a buyer wants to make sure the factory ships the right
products, in the right quantity, and with the right loading plan.

Further reading about the di erent types of inspections: quality inspection

services.

4. Putting it all together

Example 1: 5,000 widgets from a new supplier

You have no information about the factory, so you should adopt level II.

The order quantity is comprised of between 3,201 and 10,000pcs. In the

rst AQL table (higher in this document), you see the code letter is L.
And in the second AQL table, you see that 200 samples have to be
checked by the inspector.

If you opt for the standard AQL limits (0 C. / 2.5% M. / 4.0% m.), the
inspection is failed if at least one of these conditions comes true:

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One or more critical defects are found
Eleven or more major defects are found
Fifteen or more minor defects are found

And let’s say you want the inspector to check all the product functions
on a few samples. This test takes some time. You can choose special
level S-2. You see this test will be done on 8 samples.

Let’s say the 200 samples can be checked by one person in one day, so
a third-party QC rm would quote you one man-day.

When to inspect? If this is a standard product and you have exibility

with timing, a nal (pre-shipment) inspection should be enough.

Example 2: 30,000 watches from an unknown factory(ies)

You suspect that your supplier gave orders to several workshops to

produce your goods, but he won’t tell you. And these items are rather
valuable. A level-III inspection is probably the most appropriate.

If we read the AQL tables as we did above, we have to inspect 500

samples, and the maximum number of defects is: 0 critical, 21 major, 21
minor.

If a visual check on all samples and a function/accuracy check on a

few pieces is enough, it probably takes two or three man-days.

When to inspect? If the supplier refuses to disclose the factory

information, you have to go for a nal (pre-shipment) inspection.
Example 3: four di erent styles of garments from a good factory

You know that this factory’s workmanship is quite good. But you want
an inspector to check all the conformity elements and in particular the
measurements. Level I should be enough.

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You sell these products in boutiques at a high price, so you can only
accept 1.5% major defects (M) and 4.0% minor defects (m). Note: for
garments, there are generally no critical defects.

The tting is quite important, especially for the brassiere and the brief,
so 3 to 5 samples should be measured in each size.

There are 4 di erent types of products, so there have to be 4

inspections:

The total number of samples to check visually is 317 pieces. And 63 of

these samples also have to be measured. So it will probably take 2
inspectors (maybe 3, depending on the complexity of the products) for
one day.

When to inspect? The best is clearly during production after enough

nished products have come o the lines. As the 4 products might not
all be processed at exactly the same time, it might be preferable to
send an inspector at di erent times. And if an inspection is failed, a re-
inspection can probably be performed at the supplier’s charge.

———-

 
Related Quality Control Resources
Tired of reading long articles? See this illustration about Random
Quality Inspections.

You will also like these resources that provide a huge amount of advice
for importers whoHomewish to improve quality: Best Of
Articles About Us Contact us 

What is a Quality Inspection? Context, Tools & Template

Four simple steps for starting to do quality control
Quality Assurance VS Quality Control
The 4 types of quality inspection services
Quality Control Plan: De ning Expectations Before Production
The Di erent Types Of Sampling Plans For QC Inspections
What is the “AQL” (Acceptance Quality Limit) in simple terms?
How to choose an AQL limit?
The Special Inspection Levels in the AQL Tables
Inspection during production: a necessity?
Final Random Inspection: A Guide For Importers
Bene ts Of Quality Inspection Software For Quality Inspectors
Bene ts Of Quality Inspection Software For Managers
Useful Templates For Importers (13 free templates)

Get expert help to improve YOUR product quality from

suppliers in China or Vietnam. Read: Quality Assurance
In China Or Vietnam For Beginners
Grab your free copy of Sofeast’s eBook and learn the common traps
new importers from China or Vietnam fall into, and how to avoid or
overcome them in order to get the best possible production results. It
also outlines a proven quality assurance strategy that you can follow in
order to have better control over your product quality, covering:
Finding Suitable Suppliers
De ning your Requirements before Production Starts
Don’t Skip the New Product Introduction Process
Regular Quality Inspections (Trust but Verify)
Tying Payments to Quality Approvals

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Comments

Muhammad Rizwan says

February 17, 2010 at 10:09 PM

Please send me 2.5 Aql,4.0 Aql satanderd table

Reply

Renaud Anjoran says

February 17, 2010 at 10:25 PM

@ Muhammad:
It’s not like there is one such table… You’d have to go through
tables 1 and 2 above to get the correct values, and that’s onl
y for single plans under normal level… In other words, these s
tatistical tables are not user-friendly. You’d better use this fre
e calculator: http://www.qualityinspection.org/sampling-pla
n/step1.php.
I hope it helps!

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Md Alamgir Hossain (Shipon) says

April 18, 2010 at 2:28 PM

Dear sir/madam

Thank you for your site .

But i want to know about AQL with ISO STANDER label What
is AQL ???.
and i want to know all buyer stranded AQL ????

Thanks
shipon

Reply

Renaud Anjoran says

April 18, 2010 at 2:33 PM

Hi Shipon,
The AQL tables in the ISO2859-1 standard are identical to th
e tables I show on this page.
For more in-depth info, you can go to http://knol.google.co
m/k/what-is-the-aql

Reply

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Md Alamgir Hossain (Shipon) says

April 18, 2010 at 2:52 PM

Dear sir / madam

i want to know about measurement stranded label also . i thi

nk measurement is a part of inspection so i need about mea
surement stranded label ?? please send me

if the quantity is 30000 pcs i know about AQL but don’t know
How many pcs i can measurement in size is s , m , L , XL , Str
anded

Thanks
shipon

Reply

Renaud Anjoran says

April 18, 2010 at 3:50 PM

There are di erent schools of thought about this. You can re

ad this article: http://www.qualityinspection.org/garment-ins
pections-assessing-the-conformity-of-measurements/
Reply

Md Alamgir Hossain (Shipon) says

Home
April 19, 2010Articles
at 12:44 PM Best Of About Us Contact us 

Dear sir

i want to know measurement tolerance ???

please send me

Thanks
shipon

Reply

Renaud Anjoran says

April 19, 2010 at 12:50 PM

This is entirely up to the buyer’s quality manager… I can’t help

you with this, sorry.

Reply

mizanur rahman says

April 29, 2010 at 12:16 PM

i want to know about fabric inspection roles ?????

Reply

Renaud Anjoran says

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April 29, 2010Articles
at 12:27 PM Best Of About Us Contact us 

You mean, inspection of fabric rolls?

It is totally di erent inspection procedure.
Have a look at http://www.qualityinspection.org/inspection-
of-fabric-rolls-in-china/

Reply

amir hossain says

May 4, 2010 at 5:09 PM

dear sir
what is the rotter y print size and system ????
thaks
Amir hossin

Reply

amir hossain says

May 4, 2010 at 5:10 PM

dear sir
what is the safety item for garments ?????

thaks
Amir hossin

Reply
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Renaud Anjoran says

June 14, 2010 at 10:49 PM

Amir,
You can read this post: http://www.qualityinspection.org/ins
pection-textile-products

Reply

John Paul Climber says

July 7, 2010 at 8:59 PM

Dear Sir,
please send me the commitment to quality under 1:10:100 ru
le as soon as possible. Thank you very much for your attenti
on regarding this matter!!!

Best Regards,

John Paul Climber

Reply
Renaud Anjoran says
July 7, 2010 at 9:45 PM

John Paul,Home Articles Best Of About Us Contact us 

I explained that concept on this page:
http://knol.google.com/k/quality-control-the-three-types-o
f-inspections#An_important_concept(3A)_why_inspecting_e
arlier_is_generally_better

Reply

Abraham says
January 24, 2011 at 12:00 PM

Dear All,
Any one can help me with Measurement AQL for Apparels.
Can anyone pls let me know the procedures for measureme
nt AQL.

Regards
Abraham

Reply

Renaud Anjoran says

January 24, 2011 at 12:20 PM
Abraham,
See part 1 of this article: http://www.qualityinspection.org/g
arment-inspections-assessing-the-conformity-of-measurem
ents.
You can also evaluate the measurements in another way: se
e part 2 of that same article.
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Reply

Abraham says
January 24, 2011 at 1:13 PM

Dear Renaud,

Thanks for your reply.

I just want to know is there any speci c AQL for measureme

nt.
For eg as per AQL 2.5 we take 80 pcs for quality inspection (
sampling plan ), out of 80 how many pcs we need to check f
or measurement.
I will appreicate your kind reply.
If you have any systamatic table for measurement aql pls se
nd to me.

thanks
Abraham

Reply
Renaud Anjoran says
January 24, 2011 at 1:17 PM

Abraham,
I don’t understand
Home your Articles
situation… WhatBest
is theOftotal quantity
AboutoUs Contact us 
f products (ordered)?
The AQL tables are higher on this page (see under “How to r
ead the AQL tables?”.

Reply

Aracely says
April 9, 2020 at 2:43 AM

Hi Renaud,

Hi have similar question, I have been reading since few

days ago, and I am confuse with the boutique exampl
e: There are 4 di erent types of products, so there hav
e to be 4 inspections

“The total number of samples to check visually is 317 pi

eces. And 63 of these samples also have to be measur
ed. So it will probably take 2 inspectors (maybe 3, depe
nding on the complexity of the products) for one day”.

I understood sample according with lot size and AQL l

evel, just I don’t understand from where we have to ch
oose number of sampling to measure, this is confuse, c
ould you please explain us?

And another think that I don’t nd yet is how change fro

m normal inspection to reduced inspection, and when
we can apply skip lots or decide no inspection for any
product. Could you please help me to understand?

Is here: https://qualityinspection.org/quality-control-b
asics/)

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In ISO-2859 is clear how to change from normal to tigh
tened, and from tightened to normal, but that I mentio
n in last paragraph is di cult for me to understand.

Thank You
Aracely

Reply

Renaud Anjoran says

April 12, 2020 at 12:17 PM

Oh, the number of samples to measure does NO

T come from the standard. It is set by the relevant
authority (e.g. the buyer’s quality manager).
And if you read the full ISO-2859-1 standard it ex
plains how to switch from normal to reduced, bas
ed on the number of points.

Reply

Pawan Kumar Pankaj says

March 22, 2011 at 6:04 PM

pls send the LQC sampling plan for packaging.

Reply
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Renaud Anjoran says

March 22, 2011 at 6:25 PM

Pawan Kumar Pankaj,

We don’t do this kind of testing, and I don’t have this informat
ion. Sorry.

Reply

Sophia James says

September 5, 2018 at 9:36 AM

It’s great that you mentioned that being able to have the insp
ection before will save you from costly damages or issues in
the future. With that in mind, I will make sure that my mother
will be having her products inspected before releasing the
m. This would also save her from lawsuits. She just created a
makeup line since she has been very fond about these thing
s ever since she was a teen.

Reply
Dai Le says
December 8, 2018 at 11:46 AM

“The relevant standards give no indication about when to swi

tch inspection
Homelevels, soArticles
most importersBest
relyOf
on their “gut feeUs
About Contact us 
ling”.
Do the relevant standards here include the MLT-STD-105 sin
ce it has a switching rules to switch inspection levels ?

Reply

Renaud Anjoran says

December 8, 2018 at 1:26 PM

Yes, the latest version of MIL-STD 105 and the commer

cial standards that replaced it.
In ISO 2859-1, I read this: “Unless otherwise speci ed, l
evel II shall be used. Level I may be used when less dis
crimination is needed or level III when greater discrimi
nation is required. Four additional special levels, S-1, S-
2, S-3 and S-4 are also given in Table 1 and may be use
d where relatively small sample sizes are necessary an
d larger sampling risks can be tolerated.” and “The insp
ection level required for any particular application shall
be speci ed by the responsible authority. This allows t
he authority to require greater discrimination for some
purposes and less for others”.
The switching rules are for the severity, not the level. M
ore about this distinction on https://qualityinspection.o
rg/statistical-inspection-levels-severity/.

Reply
Derek McDoogle says
February 4, 2020 at 4:51 AM
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My uncle told me that he won a building project and he nee

ds to perform the job perfectly so that he can make his com
pany grow. I like how you said that an inspector can help you
notice any defects on the job done. I will suggest to him to c
ontact a material testing company so that they can grade th
e quality of the job and material.

Reply

supplier5 says
February 5, 2020 at 4:24 PM

The article is very informative which is worth reading it.

Reply

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