QualityInspection.org

Quality Assurance, Product Development, and Purchasing Strategies in China

How to set up a Receiving Inspection: Checklist, Procedure, Reporting form

I have written extensively about pre-shipment inspections (before, during, or after production), always from the perspective of the buyer checking what a supplier is doing; but I noticed that I haven't covered receiving inspections (also called incoming quality inspections). However, that's a really important topic, so let's get into how to set one up here... … [Read more...]

Why a First Article Inspection Can Save an Entire Production from Quality Issues

Planning the start of production so that a first article inspection can be performed before the rest of mass production takes place... That's not something the average Chinese factory does, unfortunately. However, under the right circumstances, a first article inspection (FAI) can save an entire production from disaster. Here's how... … [Read more...]

Dimensional Control: Should Inspectors Write their Findings?

A few years back, I wrote an article related to dimensional control about the limitations of asking inspectors to write the exact values they find when checking measurements of items like garments and precision mechanical pieces. First, the numbers you can read in a report are not necessarily the reality, and I cited many ways this happens: Use of measurement instruments that are not calibrated (poor accuracy) or that lack precision Inadvertent human errors (misreading the instrument, … [Read more...]

What Is the Confidence Level when Working with AQL Tables?

A reader wrote to me and asked the following question about sampling plans by attributes: What is the "Confidence Level" when using the AQL Tables? How can we determine what the confidence levels are, and are there formulas we can use? That's a valid question. When playing with statistics, one often mentions a confidence interval. For example, "90% of the time, the value will be between 34.5 and 66.0". In theory, I guess one could do the same with the values in the AQL tables. There is a … [Read more...]

What Is The Minimum Viable Quality Management System For A New Manufacturer? [7 Steps]

I have often looked for best practices by looking at the automotive industry's practices when considering what the minimum viable quality management system for a new manufacturer can be. For example: ISO/TS 16949: Great Improvements Over ISO 9001 (Note: that standard is now called IATF 1m6949 and is even more work to apply) Best Practices for Qualifying a Chinese Factory (Note: that is called the PPAP) So, if IATF 16949 is "ISO 9001 ++", let's look at the opposite. What would "ISO … [Read more...]

How To Test Plastic Material Properties [Videos]

I recently published a list of videos on the injection molding process, and importers of hard goods made from plastics (or at least using plastic components) also need to know how to test plastic material properties. Why is plastic testing important? We'll explore it in this post and leave you better equipped to manage your supply chain. … [Read more...]