When Your Products Failed Inspection

Have you imagine that with importing from China: Lead-time is tight as ever.

The customer has the pressure on to their stores by a certain date. and You’re already late on the shipment because the factory delayed in the production schedule. Now, you just found the products have failed a quality control inspection. Is that just bad luck? But now let's focus the inspection and make clean to know what should we do when an inspection fails?

Well, you already know that lead-times are always tight, customer or marketing chase you with a certain date, and factory delays are generally out of your control. but when you received a failed inspection report, your decisions and actions will directly influence not only the current order but also how the factory/vendor should work with solving the problem in the future.

As you know each failed inspection report result will require some individual attention, those are the certain guidelines should be followed and discussed:

1. Don't waste time, provide clear feedback and expectations to the supplier Immediately.

When an inspection fails, don’t waste any time. Immediately provide detailed instructions to the supplier on exactly what you expect to get things right in the 24-48 hours.

If you’re expecting the goods to be re-worked, re-packaged, or even “fixed”, clarify it in email point by point. Insist on knowing how the supplier’s proposed actions are going to fix the issue at hand.

2. Insist on what you want to see the correct action by Photos or Videos.

Insist on receiving photos or videos from the supplier showing any re-work in action. Your supplier should be able to provide comparison photos showing defective components side by side with the components being used to replace them.

3. Request the Defective and Fixed Samples

If your QC team has not already sent them to you, you may want to request that samples are sent to you which demonstrate the QC failures. Also have samples sent to you of pieces that have been re-worked.

4. Use a Supplier Corrective Action Report (SCAR)

A SCAR is a document that formalizes the process of corrective action and requires the supplier to fill in a form showing exactly what the issues are and how they are being corrected in the short and long-term.

5. Do NOT accept the goods.

Accepting goods that do not meet your quality standards is a clear message to the supplier that it’s OK to produce at such a level.

This will result in continued sub-par quality performance from the supplier. Insist that the goods are re-worked and re-inspected before you accept them. You may also consider billing re-inspection costs back to your supplier.

6. Be better prepared with quality control next time.

Perform an inspection when the goods are 20 – 50% completed.

This is referred to as a Pre-production or During Production (DUPRO) inspection and will allow you to identify quality issues before the entire order is completed.

DUPRO inspections not only communicate to the supplier your commitment to quality but can also vastly reduce the reworking required in the event of a failing inspection.

In short, there is no easy solution when you receive a failing QC report. However, there is some important and effective measure you can take when an inspection fails.

With good follow-through and due diligence on the 6 points described above, you can precipitate a noticeable improvement from your supplier on your next purchase order.DUPRO

Related: 3 Different Product Inspection Result in Third Party Inspection Report

3 Different Product Inspection Result in Third Party Inspection Report