Quality inspection is an important part of the product production process. It helps reduce the cost of rework and ensures compliance with customer requirements.
QA inspections are conducted at the raw materials, in-process, and final products stages. Depending on the buyers’ detailed specifications, QC inspectors evaluate defects to reach a pass or fail conclusion.
Levels of Inspection
A quality inspection done by ATI Hong Kong can identify any defects in your products. It also gives you insights that you can use to improve your production process. For example, you might discover that your employees aren’t using a proper reamers when they manufacture your product, and by addressing this issue, you can eliminate the defect.
Different buyers set their own expectations for the level of defects they’re willing to accept, so there are different levels of inspection that you can choose from. These levels are based on the number of inspections you can perform, the risk you’re willing to take and your budget. Typically, there are three general inspection levels: GI, II and GIII. GI is the cheapest option, while II and III are more expensive, but offer a greater range of inspection options.
One of the most common inspections is the During Production Inspection (DPI). This allows you to inspect a sample of the finished products as they’re being produced. It’s important to note that this type of inspection can be quite time-consuming. I’ve heard stories of it taking an inspector up to 60 minutes to complete a single inspection. During this type of inspection, your inspector will need to disassemble each finished unit and thoroughly check each part.
Another type of inspection is the Pre-Shipping Inspection, or PSI. This is done just before the final packing of the product for shipment to the end-user. This can help ensure that the shipping and handling processes don’t introduce any additional defects to your final products.
During this stage, the inspector will examine the following items:
It’s important to note that there are some differences between buyer’s requirements when it comes to inspection levels and standards. For instance, you might have a supplier that you’ve been working with for years and feel comfortable enough to lower your inspection levels. It might seem counterintuitive to make that decision, but it could reduce your overall inspection costs and save you money in the long run.
AQL Tables
An AQL table (also called an AQL chart) is a tool used to determine the correct sample size for a given inspection level. It is based on the ANSI ASQ Z1.4 standard and can be found in most quality inspection software programs.
AQL tables feature rows and columns that are labeled with different code letters, as well as the lot or batch size of the product. The arrows in the tables point to different sampling plans, allowing you to select an inspection level and sample size that best matches your needs. For example, if you choose AQL 2.5 and inspect at a sample size of 80 units, you can expect to find no more than two defects in your shipment.
The AQL table will also provide you with an inspection plan and an acceptance and rejection number. This information will help you determine if your product is acceptable for purchase. The arrow in the AQL table will either be pointing up or down, depending on which sampling plan you select. If you see an arrow pointing down, it indicates that you should select a lower inspection level than the one indicated by the AQL. Similarly, if there is an arrow pointing up, it means you should select a higher inspection level.
If the AQL sampling plan you select results in a percentage of defectives that exceeds your acceptable limit, then you must conduct a 100% full inspection of the entire shipment. You can save money by choosing a smaller inspection level, but the quality of your finished products may suffer as a result.
It is important to note that a larger sample size will require more time and labor to inspect. If you have a low tolerance for defectives and a large product order, a smaller sample size may be worth the extra cost. However, if your product poses a significant safety risk, then a larger sample size is vital for ensuring that you are able to detect any dangerous defects.
A QC professional can help you understand your options when it comes to selecting an AQL sampling plan for your products. While some importers suggest that you simply select an arbitrary percentage of the product to inspect, using a sampling method like AQL ensures that your inspection is statistically sound and allows for greater transparency in the reporting process.
Defects
Ultimately, it’s not enough for quality control inspectors to simply identify product defects. They must also classify these defects according to your company’s pre-set definitions for what constitutes critical, major and minor defects. This is important because it allows you to make informed decisions about the products that your inspectors find in each batch.
Critical defects are those that are directly a health or safety risk for your staff, consumers, and third parties. If a product is found to have critical defects, it may have to be immediately discarded or destroyed. This could result in costly production rework and even product recalls, not to mention the damage done to your brand image and reputation.
In general, minor defects are considered any that show a slight deviation from the standard. This can include things like smudges, scuffs, scratches or other surface marks that are easily cleaned or removed, small amounts of excess glue or stitching, etc. The classification of minor defects is often dependent on the specific product you’re producing. For example, electrical products might have a higher tolerance for minor defects than textiles.
For most manufacturers, the goal of a quality inspection is to minimize production costs by avoiding wasted raw materials, semi-finished or finished goods. This means that any defects in the manufacturing process must be identified and reported as quickly as possible to prevent delays, expensive rework and lost revenue. The best way to do this is with a system that’s designed to reduce the amount of time and effort required to perform inspections.
With Inspectorio’s digital quality inspection solutions, you can automate the recording of production issues so that your inspectors don’t have to manually record each defect. This allows them to focus on identifying and reporting defects, rather than spending their time recording data in spreadsheets. This information can be pushed to a central database and analyzed to uncover insights that could improve your production processes.
This approach helps you achieve a more effective quality inspection that minimizes costs, waste and lost revenue while ensuring that all of your customers receive a high-quality product every time. By utilizing a scalable and flexible quality inspection software solution, you can achieve these results without increasing your operating expenses or the number of staff needed to handle the increased volume of work.
Rejections
Quality control is a critical step in the project process, as it helps to ensure compliance with safety standards and regulatory requirements. It involves regular inspections and testing, as well as proper documentation of procedures. Dedicated quality assurance personnel or teams are also important to monitor procedures and identify issues. Lastly, training and education are key to ensuring that everyone involved in the project understands and follows quality control processes.
Inspections can take place before or during production. The inspection before production will check the quality of raw materials and components, while the inspection during production will check finished products. For both of these types of inspections, a sample of the product is inspected. If the percentage of nonconforming products in the sample is below a certain threshold, then the entire lot can be sent to ship. Otherwise, the product will be rejected.
During inspections, the inspectors must have clear instructions to follow. This includes a set definition of defects, which should be communicated to the inspectors in advance. These defects can be categorized as critical, major, or minor. Critical defects are those that violate mandatory regulations or affect the safety of consumers/end users, while major defects lead to a significant reduction in product usability or saleability. Minor defects are defects that show a departure from the quality standard, but do not affect the overall performance of the product.
Rejects can be costly, but analyzing them can provide insight into how to improve the manufacturing process. For example, if you notice that a lot of products are getting rejected for defects in a specific area, it may indicate that the workers in that department need more training. This will help to reduce the number of rejections in that area, making the manufacturing process more efficient and effective.
In addition to reducing rejections, the inspection management system should allow you to analyze the causes of these rejects. This will allow you to make necessary changes in the manufacturing process. This will help you to reduce the time required for inspection, as well as the number of rejected products. This will ultimately save you money and increase your profit margins.
