Factory inspections are vital to ensuring product quality before shipment, but you want your supplier to help you in more ways than just confirming each individual product’s quality. Whether you’re launching your first production run or your company has been around for decades, here are the five most important things your factory can help with, no matter how long you’ve been in business.
1) Quality Control
While product inspection is one of your last lines of defense, it’s also one of your best. Quality control is more than just going through and checking a random sample; you should have precise processes in place that allow you to check every aspect of quality. That way, when something goes wrong (and it will!), you can respond quickly, effectively, and with minimal losses.
2) Product Development
Forming a quality inspection services team is one of your best ways to make sure you’re getting what you want. You’ll want people who are not only familiar with manufacturing, but also with your type of product and product specifications. These can be in-house employees or people working for your factory who understand your brand and its standards. They will act as extra eyes and hands on the production line so that minor defects don’t make it past quality control.
3) Product Compliance
An annual Quality Control Service will help your supplier make sure they are complying with laws and regulations. For example, if a manufacturer is producing in China, their products may be inspected by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to determine whether or not they adhere to certain regulations regarding safety and security. If they don’t pass inspection, CBP won’t allow them into our country and you won’t be able to sell your product. To avoid losing potential revenue opportunities—and having an angry customer—be sure your supplier can provide documentation for how often their products are inspected by government agencies as well as how these inspections affect pricing and quality control processes on a daily basis.
4) Production Processes
Here’s a question we often get from new companies: What do you mean by product inspections? In short, we’re talking about testing your product throughout production to ensure its quality. Any experienced factory will have systems in place to make sure that your products don’t only meet your expectations but also industry standards for quality and safety. Every step of production is a chance to test, so it’s important to make sure your factory knows what you want them to look for. For example, if you expect a specific finish or coating on your product, look at samples together and discuss exactly how they should look. Another way factory staff can help is by inspecting raw materials before production begins.
5) Production Information
This is arguably one of your most important questions when it comes to product inspections. With production information, you get an overview of what’s happening in real-time so you can adjust as needed to ensure quality control at every stage. This information includes what has been manufactured, quantities produced, and timeframes for shipments. The faster you know about problems or issues, the easier it is to make changes without jeopardizing timelines. It will also help you prevent mistakes before they happen!
When you ask for these types of reports in advance, many factory management teams are able to organize their employees and systems around providing them. That way, when inspectors show up during reviews, they have plenty of data available to analyze while they’re on site. A good time frame would be a report per week as progress toward final assembly takes place. Inspections take place on a regular basis (at least once per year) where you visit to check that all products meet regulations before shipping overseas.
ConclusionInvesting in Quality Control China will help ensure your product does not have any issues that could cause it to fail. From simple fixes like improving production processes, or a complete reworking of your design to fit your budget, there are numerous ways to benefit from investing in factory inspections. And don’t forget; we’re here for you every step of the way. Our strategic partners help us deliver best-in-class services so you can focus on what matters most: your brand and our customers! If you have any questions at all about product inspection or China manufacturing feel free to contact us today! We look forward to working with you!
