If you are sourcing product from Asia, it’s likely that you dread that time of the year when the Chinese New Year (“CNY”) comes around. Why would one not look forward to a big holiday? If you’re managing quality, CNY will bring you a laundry list of issues, year after year.
In this blog post, we’ll detail the common quality issues that come with CNY and offer tips on how to […]
To have an in-house quality inspection team or to hire a third party quality control company – that is the question we’ll be focusing on in this blog post. In order to decide, it really comes down to: What do you want to do in-house, and what do you want to subcontract?
The main reason why some importers want their own team to perform inspections is to save money. If you decide to hire […]
When it comes to providing quality, where should you start? Here, we’re answering frequently asked questions in the sourcing and product inspections realm that will help you set a solid foundation of the quality basics. Let’s get started.
What is AQL?
‘AQL’ stands for ‘Acceptance Quality Limit’ and represents the quality level that is the worst tolerable in product inspections. Since visual inspection is not 100% reliable, there will be defective products in virtually every production batch. […]
What are on-site inspections and what do they entail? Here, we’ll discuss the purpose of in-store retail inspections and the key components that must not be overlooked. Let’s dive in!
On-site retail inspections are conducted in order to determine whether products are placed, displayed, and promoted as intended. In-store inspections are key opportunities to regularly evaluate the brand from the consumer’s perspective, right at the place where the buying decision is made. Meticulous planning, attention […]
Selecting the right supplier for your business needs is vital to ensure that you are able to deliver your products and services on time, at the right price, and in compliance with your quality standards. Creating specific supplier selection criteria will help you identify a supplier that will work with you to meet the demands of your customers. Here, we’ll offer key tips for setting those criteria and, in turn, finding a good supplier for […]
After conducting pre-production, during production, and pre-shipment inspections, your product is good to go, right? Not just yet. There’s still one last opportunity to ensure your product will be shipped exactly as intended: a loading inspection. Performed during the loading process at a factory, warehouse, or port, these inspections help to determine that shipment quantity orders and packing requirements are correct and that carton markings are accurate. In this stage, you can make sure that the product being securely loaded onto a shipping container meets all of your needs. Loading inspections check if the master carton and pallet labeling match your requirements, the container itself meets your product needs, and the loading process is performed as expected. […]
What happens when there is an issue with a product that’s already on the store shelf? Panic? Don’t worry; at this point, issues can still be corrected. Here, we’ll cover what this process entails.
When an issue is detected with an in-store product, it typically comes through in the Return to Vendor (RTV) data from the retailer. This data is generated when a consumer returns an item to the store and the retailer records the reasons for the return. This data can also come from online comments on the retailer’s website, online reviews, or, most commonly, consumer calls to the retailer.
What is the relationship between the way a product is priced and its quality? When it comes down to it, there is none. Price doesn’t determine quality. If an item has a high price, this doesn’t necessarily mean it is a high quality product, just as a low price point does not indicate an item is of low quality. This is important information for the end consumer, of course, but it’s also vital for the vendor or importer sourcing products from factories to keep this in mind. […]
You’re probably familiar with Murphy’s Law: anything that can go wrong will. That’s why experienced professionals ask a ton of “what-if” questions to anticipate how their plans might go awry and to figure out what steps they can take to protect themselves. In manufacturing, risk management is extremely crucial. In business, risk management is defined as the forecasting and evaluation of financial risks together with the identification of procedures to avoid or minimize their impact. Here, we’ll discuss risk management best practices that’ll help you ensure that quality products are delivered to your customers and help you avoid potential disasters. […]
In manufacturing, issues arise constantly and for various reasons. The key to ensuring that issues don’t become catastrophic events is catching them early. That’s where Top of Production inspections come into play.
So, what’s the purpose of Top of Production (TOP) inspections and why are they important?
TOP inspections are performed on raw materials and initial samples respectively, in conjunction with product evaluations against pre-production pieces to ensure compliance with regulatory standards and client specifications. Product inspections at the start of production aim to help eliminate quality issues as early as possible, cutting potential costs, problems, and delays associated with problems discovered late in the development cycle. When 3% to 5% of the order is ready, a control on the first pieces out of the production lines is carried out as per pre-production samples, technical files, customer’s specification, and development history.
