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What Drives Product Inspection Costs?

December 9, 2022 by Adrian Leighton

What Drives The Cost Of Product QC Inspections?

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...]

Filed Under: Quality Control Tips Tagged With: inspection levels, quality inspection costs, random sampling aql inspection

The Concept of Quality: Little q VS Big Q.

October 14, 2022 by Adrian Leighton

The Concept of Quality: Little q VS Big Q.

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...]

Filed Under: Quality Control Tips Tagged With: product quality, Quality, quality improvement

Quality Checklists: 3 Examples for Inspections

October 12, 2022 by Renaud Anjoran

inspection checklists

  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...]

Filed Under: Quality Control Tips Tagged With: inspection checklists, managing quality, product inspections, product quality, qc inspections, quality inspections

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

September 19, 2022 by Renaud Anjoran

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

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...]

Filed Under: Quality Control Tips Tagged With: AQL, limiting quality level, LQ, product inspections, random inspection

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

September 9, 2022 by Adrian Leighton

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

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...]

Filed Under: Quality Control Tips Tagged With: failed inspection, QC, qc inspections, quality failures

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

August 30, 2022 by Renaud Anjoran

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

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...]

Filed Under: Quality Control Tips Tagged With: failure analysis, investigation, product failure causes

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

August 26, 2022 by Adrian Leighton

Failure Analysis: The Activity You Hope You'll Never Need

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...]

Filed Under: Quality Control Tips Tagged With: failure analysis, fixing problems, quality failures, reliability failures

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

August 12, 2022 by Adrian Leighton

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

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...]

Filed Under: Quality Control Tips Tagged With: podcast, product development tips, product inspections, quality improvement

Mechanical Parts Inspections: Checkpoints & Defects

July 26, 2022 by Renaud Anjoran

Mechanical Parts Inspections: Checkpoints & Defects

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...]

Filed Under: Quality Control Tips Tagged With: defects, mechanical parts, process controls, quality inspections

Fixing Product Quality Issues: MFG vs. Product Design Causes

July 12, 2022 by Renaud Anjoran

Fixing Product Quality Issues: MFG vs. Product Design Causes

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...]

Filed Under: Quality Control Tips Tagged With: manufacturing defects, product design, product quality, solving quality issues

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Weekly updates for professional importers on better understanding, controlling, and improving manufacturing & supply chain in China.

This is the official blog of Sofeast.com.

This blog is written by Renaud Anjoran, an ASQ Certified Quality Engineer who has been involved in chinese manufacturing since 2005.

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