QualityInspection.org

Quality Assurance, Product Development, and Purchasing Strategies in China

  • Home
  • Articles
    • An Importer’s Guide to New Product Manufacturing in China
  • Best Of
  • About Us
  • Contact us
X

Don't miss a post

It's easy to subscribe to our newsletter where you'll receive weekly updates for professional importers and manufacturers on better understanding, controlling, and improving manufacturing & supply chain in China.

You are here: Home / Quality Control Tips / How to reduce the number of man-days for a QC inspection

How to reduce the number of man-days for a QC inspection

August 12, 2011

Quality Control TipsIn my last article, I described the difficulty of explaining to certain clients that it is impossible to inspect all shipments in 1 man-day only. This time, I am going to give advice to importers who need to reduce the number of man-days.

This article is not just for “cheap buyers” who can’t spend more than 1 man-day ($300) to secure a shipment. For example, if you can only spend 2 man-days for quality control, you might be wise to spend them at different stages of production (say, one at the beginning and one at the end of production).

So, how to do? It depends on the situation.

If the quantity is too large:

Instead of following the “standard” level II, go for I or S-3. It is less reliable than you’d like it to be, but it’s better than no inspection at all.

Example: you order 600,000 napkins. In level II, the inspector should check 1,250 pieces, and it would take more than 1 man-day. However, in level I, the sample size is only 500 pieces, and it is probably manageable in 1 man-day.

If there are too many references:

Instead of checking the specifications of every reference, the inspector can select a few of them (selected randomly from the whole range of references). It is the same thing for measuring sizes of garments: it is not always necessary to measure samples in every color, or even in every size. Again, some issues might slip through, but it is better than nothing.

Example: there are 25 different types of ceramics sets, to be shipped together. By selecting only 5 of them at random, the inspector can finish the job in 1 man-day.

If there are just too many product specification details to check (or too many on-site tests to perform):

You probably figured it out by now: the trick is to avoid checking some of them.

For example, for electrical home appliances, the inspector might check the products very thoroughly (and do all the safety tests), but might not check the labeling and the packing. Or, conversely, the purchaser does some time-consuming tests on mobile phones, but needs the inspector to confirm the proportion of visual defects, the basic functions, and the packing.

Any other strategies to reduce the time spent in inspection?

Filed Under: Quality Control Tips

Comments

  1. Pac Zhang says

    August 12, 2011 at 11:31 PM

    Hi Renaud,
    Nice article.
    Depending on my experience,conform a submitted sample for inspection instead of complicated specification provided by customers will save a lot of time to inspect more goods.
    For some items,the importers could pay attention to one or two points for inspection according to which aspect is more concerned for them(say,consider some points as key pionts to inspect) .
    How do you think?

  2. Renaud Anjoran says

    August 13, 2011 at 12:05 AM

    Pac,
    You are right, an inspector will take less time establishing whether conformity is reached if he’s got a customer-approved sample in hand.
    And I also agree that not all product specs are equally important, and the it might be in the buyer’s interest to skip checking many of them. (It comes back to the 3rd point in the article).


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.

Hit the button below to get in touch:

Contact Us!

Subscribe to our email newsletter

Connect with us

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
sofeast
sofeast
sofeast

Latest Articles

  • Going from 1 Prototype to Mass Production directly is Dangerous
  • Should North American Importers Leave China For Countries Like Mexico or Vietnam? (Feat. Andrew Hupert) [Podcast]
  • Inspecting Productions with Very Few Defects: Dump the AQL
  • Answering Your Questions on Fabric Quality, US Tariffs, & Volatile Material Prices.
  • QMS Implementation Consultant vs. Certifying Body

Categories

  • Quality Control Tips
  • Sourcing New Suppliers
  • Supplier Management
  • New Product Development
  • Process Improvement
  • Ethical Sourcing

Archives

© 2022 QualityInspection.org