AQL Inspection Guide for Electronics: What Every Importer Must Know

The 5-point quality control system is the industry standard for China manufacturing. Point 1: Raw Material QC — verify incoming materials against specifications before production. Point 2: In-Process QC — inspect during production, not just at the end. Point 3: Pre-Shipment QC — random sampling before container loading. Point 4: Loading Supervision — confirm quantity, packaging, and marks. Point 5: Corrective Action — when defects are found, ensure the factory implements permanent fixes, not quick patches.

Inspection sampling should be genuinely random. A common factory trick is preparing perfect units on top of pallets while concealing defects in the middle. Professional inspectors break down stacks, sample from inner cartons, and mix their own selection rather than using pre-staged samples. Instruct your QC team to be unpredictable in their sampling pattern. Random sampling is only valuable if it's actually random.