Quality control inspection in China
Why is it so difficult?
Wouldn’t it be great if everything could be waiting and ready to go when we arrive at a factory for inspection?
Wouldn’t it be great if it didn’t take so much time to travel from the hotel or airport to the factory?
Wouldn’t it be great if goods waiting inspection were laid out in an easy to inspect manner, divided according to SKU, color, or target market?
Wouldn’t it be great if quality control services in China were easy to choose from and familiarize yourself with?
Wouldn’t it be great if every time all measuring devices were ready and calibrated, an army of factory workers was always on hand to assist us at every step, and the factory was proactive in informing us about all the quality issues they couldn’t fix before the inspection?
Wouldn’t it be great if this list didn’t seem endless?
If you’ve worked with quality control services in China, you know what we’re talking about, and we are sure you can add quite a few items to this list.
This is not to say there are no professional and ethical factories in China that are a pleasure to work with. But for every good factory, there is a difficult one.
One of the things that make a China quality inspection a draining experience is having to deal with unstable quality goods.
When the quality is stable, whether it is good or bad, you only have to sample a small quantity to get an idea of the entire shipment’s quality.
When the quality is not consistent across the board, the sampling result isn’t clear, and a need to open more and more boxes arises. The entire process becomes tiring and frustrating and the factory loses its motivation to cooperate.
China Quality Inspection: Challenges
Gaining full control over the quality process is not always easy
In the worst cases, inspections can lead to disagreements between the buyers and factory over quality standards. It is not always easy to agree on the best course of action to fix the goods or who is going to pay for it. These types of situations result in shipment delays, customer complaints, and other potential penalties. They will not improve your relationship with customers or help your company’s reputation.
In our 20+ years of China quality inspection experience, the wish list did not come true unless we worked with the factory in advance to establish expectations for inspections and product quality. Quality control inspection is a project, and like every project, it has to be planned and managed.
But how do you plan a project if you don’t know the constraints? Elements like travel between the hotel and factory, or the amount of space available to inspect a large number of goods.
How can you make plans if you don’t know what resources you are going to have available during the inspection? Resources like the number of factory workers available to assist you with inspection logistics, cranes, and available measuring devices.
If this is beginning to seem overwhelming, then you might want to invest in hiring quality control services in China to help walk you through the process.
The inspection may cover a wide range of products and details, and sometimes a large geographic area.
Some factories have multiple locations; it is easy to get lost in all the details or run out of time due to spending too much time on some of them. For this reason, CSO has developed a simple, yet effective procedure that ensures we successfully cover all areas of the inspection within the allotted time.
The Secret Sauce:
Prepare in advance and work according to a formulated process
The secret to a successful quality inspection lies in doing two things:
For most, the majority of time used to handle a quality inspection is not spent running the inspection itself.
It’s spent on the road, traveling to and from the factory.
When you examine the entirety of time used for quality inspection purposes, you may discover a significant amount of it was consumed traveling to and from the factory, and resolving issues that are related to the factory, revealed to the inspectors for the first time after arriving at the manufacturing facility.
There is no magic spell that will help you avoid all preparation work. There are, however, a few easily completed actions that significantly increase your chances of a fast and efficient inspection.
The first action that needs to be taken is completing good preparation work.
Prep work has five objectives:
A plan for the day of inspection
Make sure it reasonable and executable
The plan should include traveling to and from the factory, an opening meeting with all inspection stakeholders to align expectations and confirm inspection readiness.
The plan, of course, should allow enough time for inspecting all products and details. In addition, the plan should encompass a closing meeting to discuss the results of the inspection and possible shipping changes with the factory’s management. Finally, the plan should allow time for the inspectors to consolidate all information collected for a quick report preparation and delivery.
a preliminary phone conversation
Conduct a preliminary phone conversation with the factory management to reduce unknown factors that create delays
Look for any apparent signs concerning issues that have the potential to become hurdles during the inspection. Use this phone discuss expectations from the inspection day and future business relationship.
Reduce unknown factors that create delays and waste time during the inspection.
This includes logistic factors e.g. traveling time and the availability of key staff during the inspection.
To do that you will have to get to know the surrounding of the factory, inquire about the factory schedule a few days before an after the inspection to find out about events that may influence the inspection schedule.
This phone call may result in a delay of the inspection or even its cancelation.
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Become familiar with the factory
Become familiar with the factory’s general situation prior to the visit
A factory is a complex organization; the management system it develops even more so. It is very hard for an inspector to resolve all problems onsite.
Consequently, it is very helpful to start grasping the picture of what the inspection process may look like before arriving in the factory.
Help the factory prepare
Help the factory increase the efficiency of the inspection by preparing for it
Of course, we don’t want the factory to “over prepare”.
But we do want them to prepare enough people to assist the inspectors.
We want the relevant managers to be present to help resolve issues quickly, enough space available to allow inspectors to effectively examine the merchandise, and guaranteed uninterrupted accessibility to measure devices and warehouses.
Managing the inspection
according to a process
The inspection may cover a wide range of products and details, and sometimes a large geographic area.
Some factories have multiple locations; it is easy to get lost in all the details or run out of time due to spending too much time on some of them. For this reason, CSO has developed a simple, yet effective procedure that ensures we successfully cover all areas of the inspection within the allotted time.
Ship goods with confidence
No more customer penalties. Protect your reputation.
At CSO, our interests are aligned with yours. There is a reason we strive to be “your team in China”.
We understand your goal is not to receive a quality control report. We understand your goal is to ship a quality product, grow your business, and increase your profit.
This is why we stay with you per your request, even after the report is sent to you. In the event the report reveals a problem with your product’s quality, we are here to help you communicate, and negotiate with the manufacturer to reach an acceptable solution that won’t result in losses on your side.
Your reputation is your most valuable asset. The biggest loss that comes from shipping poor quality product to a customer isn’t monetary. It is the loss of the customer’s confidence in your business’ capability; the loss of your company’s image as an authority in your industry and field. When your customer receives a poor-quality shipment, it completely changes the discussion about the next shipment. You are forced to negotiate from a much weaker position compared to one offered after a high-quality shipment.
Your reputation is your most valuable asset. The biggest loss that comes from shipping poor quality product to a customer isn’t monetary. It is the loss of the customer’s confidence in your business’ capability; the loss of your company’s image as an authority in your industry and field. When your customer receives a poor-quality shipment, it completely changes the discussion about the next shipment. You are forced to negotiate from a much weaker position compared to one offered after a high-quality shipment.
CSO Projement is
A service provider helping western companies work directly with Chinese factories.
Our customers are tech-based SME’s for whom price and quality are equally important and to whom protecting their reputation is a top priority.
Our customers are companies that cannot afford paying commissions or third-party margins on top of the net factory price. They are companies with complex products and complex supply chain.
Our clients understand that they must work directly with their manufacturers for improved communication and fast decision making.
They are companies for whom quality and cost are important uncompromising concerns, and want to be involved in the order follow up process, but cannot afford to let it consume too much of their time.
Our service process is straight forward and easy
How It Works
Fill out the quality control service form. Be as informative as possible
Indicate on the form which service or services you are interested in
Send us the form.
We will review your information and may ask for clarifications
This is what you can expect before the inspection
This is what you can expect during and after the inspection
Who is this service for
This service is designed for non-Chinese companies who are currently manufacturing or planning to manufacture their product in China
It is designed for companies that are looking for factories capable of manufacturing a high-quality product at a competitive price.
We realize that the one resource more important to our customers than money is time. This is why
we designed this service for SME’s that have little or no presence in China.
We offer a professional and experienced team with extensive local knowledge that helps companies through the vendor approval procedure including a factory audit.
We designed this service keeping in mind production in China is a complex project that exposes many of our customers to big risks. This service minimizes those risks, while remaining affordable.
Larger organizations with their own team in China can still benefit from hiring a sourcing agent in China. Especially if the team is dedicated to non-operational tasks like sales and marketing.
Service Fees
The minimum service fee is USD 500 and is calculated according to the number of days our team must dedicate to the inspection, and the costs related to traveling to the site where the inspection is taking place. The service fee may vary depending on the location of the site and the workload.
Some lots are bigger than others and include many different sections. Some items are more complex than others, and some factories take a longer time to travel to. A short bus ride is enough to arrive at some sites, while others require booking flights. All these factors can have a large impact on the time and cost available to spend on each inspection. We want to make sure we offer you the most competitive price based on the circumstances specific to your situation.
Contact us a to receive your free quote with absolutely no commitment at all.