Why Third Party Inspection is a Necessity for Quality Control in China
Quality control services should be required in order to ensure that the quality of products being manufactured or imported are up to par, which means using the services of a third party inspection company in China is an absolute necessity.
In this article, we’ll look at why it’s so important and what you can expect from these inspection companies when they come in to check on your facility or product line.
What Is Third Party Inspection?
A third party inspection company should be an independent organization, unaffiliated with either your business or manufacturing facility.
The inspector checks all aspects of production, including quality control and environmental considerations such as waste disposal.
They will also report back to you with any problems they find, along with recommendations on how to solve them.
In addition to verifying product quality at every stage of production, they can verify that manufacturer standards are met in terms of things like safety and cleanliness.
Why do I need quality inspections when importing from China?
Product quality control in China has always been tricky. The Chinese manufacturers who supply products to American and European companies are constantly developing new, cheaper methods of doing things.
This is good news for those looking to cut costs – but it can be disastrous if you want to ensure quality.
One of these new ways could easily slip through an inspection process and result in an unsatisfied customer – or worse, legal action against your company for making misleading statements about your product.
It’s best to use third party inspections from experienced inspectors who know how to dig deeper into all facets of a product manufacturing process, so you don’t have to worry about complaints, recalls or other liabilities down the road.
What Does Third Party Inspection Consist Of?
While on-site inspection may sound like it’s enough, any business owner knows that what you see on location isn’t always representative of what actually occurs within your company. That’s why there’s a third party inspection.
These experts will visit your company and make sure your employees are following all of your quality control policies.
With third party inspectors around, you can be sure that you know what’s going on within your business.
What type of inspection checks can the quality inspector perform?
On any given day, a quality inspector may visit your factory to perform many different types of checks.
There are three categories of checks they can perform:
- unannounced inspections;
- announced or scheduled inspections; and
- responding to customer complaints.
Quality inspectors will typically use all three of these types, but some factories will specialize in certain aspects.
For example, one company might only be able to perform check-welding, whereas another company might only have time for unannounced inspections due to scheduling issues.
Does my supplier do quality checks?
You must implement quality checks with your Chinese suppliers to ensure that you are getting exactly what you pay for.
You may even want to hire an inspection company in China to help perform these checks and ensure that you’re receiving quality products at a competitive price.
Some common places where quality issues crop up include printing, manufacturing and fabricating of products.
Am I going to have to go over every order to check quality?
In an ideal world, you would check over every single item before it went out.
However, unless you’re running some type of large operation with lots of manpower and machinery, that kind of quality control isn’t feasible (or possible).
That’s where third-party inspection comes into play. With third-party inspection, your shipment arrives at their facility and they inspect each piece to ensure it meets your standards.
Final wrap up
Quality control doesn’t stop at your factory walls. It doesn’t begin there either, but understanding quality control in China and its necessity in third party inspection shouldn’t end when you leave your supplier. Quality control begins and ends with you – all of it.
From initial product planning to final distribution, finding an inspection company in China that can help support quality control throughout your supply chain is essential to creating a reliable brand reputation.