QualityInspection.org

Quality Assurance, Product Development, and Purchasing Strategies in China

What Drives Product Inspection Costs?

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It's important to inspect product quality, but if the inspections you get done aren't optimized you could end up spending too much on high product inspection costs which is a problem when that money could be used for other activities. This post gives you an insight into the factors that drive QC inspection costs and some tips on how to reduce them while still inspecting quality in a careful manner which is unlikely to let issues escape unnoticed.   Listen to this episode. Hit play … [Read more...]

The Concept of Quality: Little q VS Big Q.

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Take a deep dive into the concept of quality. A lot of importers focus narrowly on if the products they're getting from their manufacturers/suppliers are within tolerance (little q). But without a wider view that looks at the entire manufacturing process from design to production (Big Q), can the mistakes that lead to each batch containing defective pieces be found and fixed, or do we end up in a cycle of inspecting finished batches, removing 'bad' pieces, and then reworking them or scrapping … [Read more...]

Quality Checklists: 3 Examples for Inspections

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  Over the years, we have provided feedback to many clients on their product specification sheets and their quality checklists for inspections. Rather than a step-by-step guideline, the most useful is usually to provide them with a few real examples for different types of products.   3 examples of quality inspection checklists In 2020, when personal protective equipment was severely lacking in many countries, we released some of our templates on our commercial … [Read more...]

Using the Limiting Quality Level (ISO 2859-2:2020) Instead of AQL

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A reader asked me how he should do an inspection of a lot produced in isolation. In theory, he should work with the Limiting Quality Level (LQ), not the AQL, which is designed for inspections of a continuous stream of production. I shot a video to contrast the 2 approaches, explain when each makes sense, and show how each works. … [Read more...]

What To Do If Your Products Fail An Inspection? [Step-By-Step Process]

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Sofeast's CEO Renaud Anjoran and Adrian from the team are back and talking about something else you don't want to experience but may if you're unfortunate. A failed product inspection! Renaud will explain to you why the type of inspection matters, a step-by-step process to follow to fix problems highlighted by a product inspection report now, and how to put corrective and preventive actions in place to stop the problem from reoccurring in future production runs.     Listen … [Read more...]

Best-In-Class Investigations on Product Failures: Learn from Air Crashes

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I found the Air Crash Investigations program on National Geographic and I admit I spent hours watching it over the past weekend. It is riveting! Here is the way they present it: Featuring captivating reenactments and state-of-the-art CGI, Air Crash Investigation uncovers the truth behind legendary aviation disasters. Those investigations are essentially failure analyses after a pretty disastrous and sometimes spectacular accident. They sometimes take years but they often result in … [Read more...]

Failure Analysis: An Activity You Hope You Won’t Do!

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A product failure analysis is an activity manufacturers hope they'll NEVER need to do. If something has gone wrong enough to warrant doing one, you're probably experiencing product quality or safety issues that are so severe that customers are returning them in numbers, or even, at the extreme end of the scale, getting hurt! If you are hit with quality, reliability, or safety problems with your product during development or, more likely, in the field, it may be necessary to help you … [Read more...]

How to optimize inspections & drive suppliers to improve quality to reduce costs & risks?

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If you're placing large enough orders with your overseas manufacturers there are ways in which you can optimize the product QC inspections you're conducting in order to get better quality results for the same costs or to reduce overall inspection costs without increasing risks. While we're talking about improving quality, a great way to reduce your need for inspections is to analyze and improve product designs, testing, and production processes in order to lock in good quality before products … [Read more...]

Mechanical Parts Inspections: Checkpoints & Defects

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When inspecting general consumer goods (except food), most companies classify defects and checkpoints in these 4 categories: Aesthetics & smell Conformance to specs (including measurements) Function, usability, reliability Safety & regulatory But how about precision mechanical parts inspections, made from metal, plastic, resin, or other polymers? … [Read more...]

Fixing Product Quality Issues: MFG vs. Product Design Causes

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About two or three times a month, a client tells us about serious issues they have experienced with a certain product, and they ask if we can help fix those product quality issues. In some cases, it is relatively quick and easy. In others, it may involve deep changes, including a re-design of the product itself! … [Read more...]