The Ultimate Quality Inspection Guide: 9 Steps To Follow

Quality is what makes (or breaks) a brand and its products. Simple as that. How much time do you actually spend analyzing your quality control systems for focal points that could be the cause of the quality problems you are facing?
Product defects are a reality, for everyone!

The CPSC recently recalled 29 million IKEA chests and dressers that do not comply with the performance requirements of the U.S. voluntary industry standard. This defect resulted in 3 deaths, costing IKEA an amount of $50million for each family in settlement.
Time constraints, lack of resources with ineffectual QMS systems and no guarantees of a perfect quality product often play a role in the number of product defects your supplier produces.

So, how does one avoid costly mistakes that harm their brand and reputation?

We have created a step-by-step guide on how a third party quality provider such as API can help with improved product quality by minimizing defects.
As a professional quality assurance company, we take pride in customizing our quality solutions to that of each of our client’s needs.
This guide addresses the importance of the quality inspection procedures you choose to use for your product and the benefits that they can have for your overall factory performance.

So what can you expect to learn from this?

We walk you through the moment that you touch base with API, to when and who contacts you and how they go about assessing, inspecting and addressing your quality needs and issues every step of the way.

• Tell us everything
  When we say tell us everything we mean it.
  We cover topics such as your exact needs and wants for inspection and testing, as well as discuss what your auditing needs may be. We also follow up on your progress with the Technical Compliance File (TCF) or introduce you to this compliance method.
  These topics help us define the types of questions we need to be answered to better position ourselves in understanding a client’s particular set of needs.
• Specify everything
  We take you through the specification process and provide you with examples of how you can go about this.
  From dimensions of your product to the colour, to the raw materials, to your packaging requirements, we aim to improve the production process by making this step easy for your supplier to navigate.
  Communication and specification are key.
  An often underrated element of preventing product defects is building a good collaborative relationship with your supplier.
• Know what your inspection needs are
  Each inspection type is different. This guide takes you through the step-by-step process of each inspection type and what you can expect from each with an outline of their key benefits for you and your end product.
• Reducing product defects and raising the overall quality of your factory  
  Once all the work is complete, depending on how many inspections were performed,  API provides Key Performance Indicators based on data related insights that were identified through the various inspection reports.

This data helps identify any problem areas that may need attention, through this API can then propose improvement strategies. Say, for example, a supplier repeatedly has below standard inspection results, we will then be able to propose a technical audit of the factory to identify root causes and based on that propose any corrective actions, which will, in turn, raise the overall quality of the factory.

**Bonus – We have added checklists to help assist you in improving your product quality.

Product defects are not great, they are what probably keeps you up at night, but in following the quality inspection guide you will begin to reduce the number of defects you experience and in turn will also raise the overall quality of the factory.

This guide is for any importer, retailer, and quality manager who is constantly looking to improve their quality control procedures through the use of an expert third party quality provider that can assist in the following;

• Raw material inspection solutions
• Inline, DUPRO and FRI inspection solutions
• Technical and social auditing solutions
• Data capturing from checklists and reporting
• Improvement strategies based on data based insights

A third party quality provider with the appropriate expertise and experience will take you above and beyond in achieving high-quality products and placing you at a competitive position in the market place.

CLICK HERE AND TAKE A DIVE INTO OUR QUALITY INSPECTION GUIDE THAT WILL HELP with Improved PRODUCT QUALITY