Tag: inspection

Over the years, we’ve had our share of inquiries related to organizations seeking to resolve a recall situation.  While many of these calls are reactive, a proactive approach is recommended to avoid the cost and overall impact to stakeholders.

How can you avoid product recalls? 

Know Product Safety Requirements –  Avoiding recalls generally starts with product design and specification development. Due diligence is required to determine if any applicable testing is required depending on the market in which it will be sold. Contacting a testing lab for a general inquiry is worth the time and effort. Researching ANSI and ASTM standards is also advised.  A third party’s expertise can also be leveraged here and specifications development/testing can be outsourced.

Know Your Suppliers – Supplier selection is a critical component in the quality process. Verifying suppliers and performing an on-site evaluation adds an additional level of assurance. Considerations include:

Anyone involved in sourcing from China has likely been preparing for Chinese New Year for several weeks.  The “new year,” also known as the Spring Festival, is marked by the lunisolar Chinese calendar.  The festivities usually start the day before the new year and continue until the Lantern Festival, the 15th day of the new year. During that time, factories and other businesses are closed.

What happens during Chinese New Year?

Chinese New Year is the most significant holiday in China.  It’s a time when the Chinese return to their home towns and celebrate with friends and family.  Learn more about the cultural aspects here. 

For those involved in manufacturing within the region, there’s an urgency prior to the holiday to ensure timely shipments. This is where proactive planning is helpful.

We’re answering your most frequently asked questions regarding quality inspections. For example, why should you perform QC inspections, what happens on-site, when is the best time to schedule, and more.

Check out our latest video:

Our quarterly newsletter is also featuring this information. Review the additional content here.  Another video of interest relates to Understanding the Supplier Audit Process. 

Let us know what questions or topics you’re interested in learning more about in 2016! 

Over the last three decades, we have inspected an innumerable amount of orders for clients looking to mitigate sourcing risk and uncertainty. As a result, one question we receive often regards identifying trends or commonalties among defects noted.

We asked two of our key team members in Ningbo, China what the most commonly noted issues during inspections include:

“Workmanship is the most common issue due to the variation.”  ~Cynthia Liu (Business Team Manager)

“Inconsistency in production.” ~Nick Chen (Technical Supervisor)

Although each product is unique, we are able to classify our observations by general industry. During inspections, defects are generally classified as major, minor or critical.  More on classifying defects here.

Common defects noted by industry includes: