Growing consumerism and the ever increasing demand for high quality goods and services has compelled the competitive market to evolve quickly. The sole aim has been to satisfy the target market through high quality products and to make sure that the products match the required standards. Now who is going to make sure that the products meet the required standards? Business houses will obviously claim that their products are meeting the required standards. In such a scenario it is important that you have an individual company free from any biases to check the quality. This implies the importance of a quality control team who can independently work to make sure that the products match the required standards before they reach the market. These teams ensure quality control along with regulatory compliance of products that are shipped across borders.

Importance of Quality Control

Checking the quality of products directly triggers profit and caters to public safety. Manufacturers who receive products from vendors rely completely on raw materials those have been used to make these products. Good quality raw materials guarantee high quality products and quality control team that focuses on checking the raw materials first. However, raw materials are not the only factors that need to be inspected by the quality control team. But it is one of the most important ones that deserve attention in the initial stages. This is followed by comprehensive inspection in the reaming aspects of production.

Operations of Third Party Inspection

Several business houses realise the importance of quality control and that is the reason they call them on board to inspect products that they produce. The basic operations involve calling the third party inspection company on board who is an independent entity not related to the company. This helps the inspection company to give their view independent of the company’s profit or loss and at the same time guarantees the company that their products will completely satisfy consumers. Third party inspection companies follow a fixed protocol and their approach towards work is all under a fixed routine. Surely there is a lot of flexibility, but this flexibility is subject to the situation and is modified only if that guarantees better results. Mostly business houses submit their raw materials so that it can be inspected. This is just one aspect of it, this inspection is followed by checking the infrastructure and the processes involved in producing the product. All of it is inspected by the third party.

Quality Assurance by Third Party Inspection Companies

Third party audit and inspection service is the standard protocol that all business houses execute so that they have higher reliability of their brand among consumers. This type of an inspection follows several processes and all the steps combined together ensure that the product is of great quality. All these steps are nothing but a series of work that the third party inspection company needs to execute before concluding whether the product is of good quality or not.

All these steps are crucial and a combination of all this eventually becomes a profitable venture for both the inspection company as well as the business house because consumers begin to rely on their brand the most.

Pre shipping inspection has such an important role to play that without its proper execution, it can lead to shipping delays. This explains the intensity of importance that shipping inspection has. Usually the transit time for the container to reach the port is approximately less than 7 days. But to be on the safe side, most officials guarantee a time span of 7 days. The reason for increasing the bandwidth is primarily to make sure that the inspection process is followed without any delay. Pre shipping inspection in China is a comprehensive process which follows several protocols. This in a way is good because professionals can be rest assured that only the best reaches them and the fact that there has been no compromise on quality.

Inspection is a must and it should not necessarily be followed after the product is ready to be shipped. Quality control or inspection should be followed at several stages of manufacturing and production. Detecting problem areas in the early stages of production leaves room for alterations but in the final stage, the situation gets slightly difficult.

Delays are always unwanted and do not show you in good light. So this post will help you understand the pre shipping inspection aspects that you need to consider in order to avoid delays.

•  Incorrect Documentation – Shipping delays in China takes place largely because of the delay in completing the documentation process. The paperwork is usually very straightforward and direct in its approach. This makes a lot of people wonder, then why the delay when the process is hassle free and far from any complication? The reason in delay takes place only when the quality control team finds questionable points in the paperwork. Chinese suppliers get export rebate from the government. The rebate amount at times makes for a larger portion of the profit margin than the direct margin that they receive from the sale. This acts like a temptation for manufacturers to show incorrect HS codes so that they can earn maximum rebate income. This is a kind of fraud which comes under the notice of the inspection team thereby causing a delay.

•  Customs Inspection – Customs inspection both at “Port of Destination” and “Port of Loading” select a certain portion of the containers in order to inspect them. Each customs inspection team have their own set of policy for selecting as well as checking the containers. However, there are definitely a set of parameters based on which the inspection takes place. These parameters are risk profile of a particular product and detailed history of the exporter but that is selected completely on a random basis. These are some of the basic parameters but yet again the aspects selected for inspection is very random.

•  Port Congestion – Port congestion is quite a common problem in areas where the number of containers is more than what the port can accommodate. In China this is a common scenario during the Chinese New Year and in the month of October because of Christmas sales. Understanding the problem of port congestion during a specific time frame, the quality control team can ensure that the inspection process is completed within a fixed time span in order to avoid traffic as much as possible. Quality inspection and testing of the products takes place at the factory’s facility by the quality control team.

Most of the above mentioned pointers can be avoided provided the pre shipping inspection processes become regularised and falls under a routine.

The best way to make sure that products your business offers meet customer expectations is by making it go through quality control and quality assurance. Quality assurance is the best way to make sure that products validate all quality requirements to be the best in the market. The team works together to ensure quality assurance which requires planning, close observation along with thorough inspection. Having a great quality assurance is not that easy because you need to have well defined policies, well structured job definitions and a great team who can identify talent and recruit the same to strengthen the team.

• Planning Quality Assurance – Implementation of a quality assurance program happens much later. The first and the most important thing is to have a well structured plan. This plan demands standardized tools and established quality benchmarks. So make sure that the team gets the proper training so that they know what they are expected to do. It is better not to rush towards implementing the same because the focus needs to be on people and to make them aware what they are expected to do. Once that is set, the rest of the things fall in place naturally.

• Recruiting Team Members – Quality products from China needs to be checked before it reaches the market. The inspection process will remain incomplete or ineffective if you do not have a high functional team handy. So recruit a team that is effective and is fast to adapt to the work that they need to do. You need to be aware of the exact job description before the recruiting process begins. Get in touch with professionals who match the job description that is mentioned so that they can do justice to the quality assurance work that they need to do.

• Documenting Process – Professional work needs to be monitored always. This is the basic reason for all teams to document their work and the results they achieve on a regular basis. Through this approach you can always evaluate results and understand areas where you need to show improvement. Documentation process mainly involves defining the standard definition of work and to ensure that the current work status matches the pre defined standards. Employees also need to make sure that the documentation process is maintained at a regular frequency. Regularity in frequency is the best way to measure the results and to understand the factors responsible in case things are going wrong.

• Monitoring Progress – Success of your quality assurance team mainly depends on how well you can monitor their work and the kind of mobility they have in their work. There are several projects which are not just large but extremely complex in nature. In such cases it is extremely important to have regular and organized monitoring process. Monitoring the work allows quality assurance team to identify factors responsible for certain irregularities at an early stage before the production begins and things get out of their immediate reach.

The quality assurance team needs to look into the details of inspecting products. The processes that they need to follow are similar to the ones those are mentioned above. These factors need to be executed by the quality assurance team to get that perfect flow in work that is free from any sort of irregularities.

Social compliance audit companies have a major role to play in managing the regular global supply chain. There is a special process involved in its audit and this process makes sure that all suppliers are evaluated based on the suppliers and their ability to comply with the local laws. There are however a few brands and retailers who have an additional set of requirements that suppliers need to match in order to manufacture their products.

In your supply chain management process, it is also important to keep a close tab on employees to make sure that they meet the required standards under which they are supposed to work. These are some of the basic areas where social compliance audit companies need to pay attention. But there are several other important factors that deserve attention. Let us take a quick look at those important issues as well:

Comprehensive Inspection of the Workplace – Comprehensive inspection of the entire workplace includes checking the warehouse, the dormitories where employees spend maximum of their time when they are not working. This also includes checking the canteen and the production area where the finished products are manufactured. The factors that need to be inspected are whether the space has enough ventilation along with the maintenance of proper hygiene conditions. Sufficient amount of emergency exits and good quality infrastructure to produce high quality products.
Documentation & Regular Reviewing – Documentation is the best way to have facts ready. However, care needs to be given that the documentation process is regularly updated and the social compliance audit companies are responsible to ensure the same. Documentation is a great way to have facts and data ready for further review or investigation. Understanding the problem areas also becomes easy with the help of regular documentation. You have the advantage of comparing record to figure out the standard of work flow. Comparison with previous records also gives you the chance to understand whether there has been a progression or not. This progression can also be measured because you have data to validate the same. No auditing job is ever complete without a full review of the documents those have been updated every day.
Employee Reviews – Inspection, maintenance as well as examining documents is all part of the drill that audit companies need to make sure of. But knowing what employees have to say about the company is also important. After all, employees make a company and it is not the other way round. Employees know more about the company than what meets the auditor’s eye. So have questionnaire ready that you can ask employees or even conduct a behavioural survey to understand what goes on inside the company. Inspecting data, evaluation and analysis is definitely important but employee reviews also play a big role. It is time that audit companies also make sure to take this into account as well.
The work process of social compliance audit companies is definitely very intricate and extensive. They need to look into the details of workplace infrastructure as well as understanding the comfort of employees working together. So make sure you involve these processes as well.

All businesses need well organized quality control policies to make sure that the products which reach the markets meet customer expectations and match the regular standards. Understanding the importance of quality control, business houses either have an in-house team or outsource the service but care needs to be taken that it is cost effective. Quality control is a great way to add value to your products in the consumer market and the money spent on quality control is worth it.

However, there are several important factors that go into these quality inspection services. These factors are the different policies that make quality inspection service a successful venture. Let us take a look at the several policies involved.

Random Sampling – Rigorous quality inspection of all products is extremely time consuming and involves a lot of expenses. So the best way to make sure that all products are of high quality is by following the approach of random sampling. This approach makes employees extremely cautious because they know any product from the lot that is being manufactured can be targeted as random sample. So all products have a fair chance of being a random sample. This motivates employees to make sure all products are of high quality.

Inspection of Raw Materials – Quality control is all about having an accurate analysis of the finished product. This does not imply that the product can only be evaluated after the product is ready to reach the target market. Inspection can take place vey randomly at any given stage. This includes the fact that even the raw materials those are being used to make the product can also be subject to inspection. Raw materials are the basic components that go into making the finished product. So make sure that your products are made from the right raw materials those have passed the quality control test with flying colours.

Inspection of Finished Products – Inspecting finished products is a must and that is the major reason for the quality control team to check the functionalities of the product. Checking the functionalities is possible only when it is complete to reach the market. So make sure your quality control team has a strict policy of checking the quality of products after it is ready to reach the market. The only major problem of checking products at this stage is, products detected with problems will be completely discarded and there will be no room for modifications. So make sure that there is random sampling inspection at all stages so that employees focus on making all products of high quality. Eliminating products at the last stage leads to a loss that a company would not like to experience.

Quality Control of Customer Service – Checking the standard of your products is extremely important to make sure that only the best reaches customers. But it is equally important to know the feedback from customers as well. So remember to gauge your client feedback by asking them several questions, conducting a survey and asking them their experience of using the products. Their feedback with the help of the quality control team is a great way to know how you can improve the standard of the products.

It is time to bring about certain modifications in the quality control team and make sure that you have these above mentioned qualities incorporated smoothly. This will make sure that you have great products reaching customers and their feedback carefully recorded to improve your standards.