It is mandatory to do quality control when importing products from China, regardless of the order volume. It is very crucial to find the right quality control partner. Below are a list of the top five inspection companies in China, we will compare them based on capability, pricing and customer focus – to help you choose the right partner for your quality assurance needs in China.

1. Inspectaman

Inspectaman is a professional inspection company based in China who inspect, verify the quantity, product quality or any specific criteria on the manufacturing premises, at the time of loading or at any worldwide destination. Their prompt, reliable and independent inspections ensure your consumer goods comply with the requirements mandated by local regulations, international standards and buyer-specific quality control plans.

2. V-Trust

V-Trust is another China-based Quality Control and Inspection company that offers a wide range of QC services to Chinese importers. As an independent third-party inspection company, V-Trust has a sound inspection network covering most coastal areas of China. They have 110+ full-time inspectors who are well trained, reliable and experienced in inspecting a wide product range.

3. KRT audit

KRT Audits is a US-based company that offers a wide range of quality control and inspection services to importers in China and other Asian countries. KRT Audits includes final shipment inspection, in-process inspection, container loading supervision, first article inspection, manufacturing process monitoring, defect sorting inspection, complete factory audit, complete reseller audit, basic factory audit, complete social audit, business license check, and anti-terrorism audit.

4. AQI inspection

AQI Service is a medium inspection company based in China, providing professional quality control service and production monitoring throughout the whole supply chain, from product development, sourcing, quality control to shipping and delivery;

They strive to offer the most reliable, impartial and flexible quality control services for clients. Focus on serving importers, retailers and trading companies of all sizes from all over the world, which have one thing in common: importing goods from China even Asia.

5. SGS inspection

SGS is the world’s leading inspection, verification, testing, and certification company.

SGS’s comprehensive range of world-leading inspection and verification services, such as checking the condition and weight of traded goods at transshipment, help you to control quantity and quality, and meet all relevant regulatory requirements across different regions and markets.

Importance of inspection 

Inspections should be an essential for any organization, regardless of their field of business. If inspection is done properly, it helps to a great extent in ensuring proper control on quality of the materials and products. In quality control, the role of inspection is to verify and validate the variance data.

These inspections have several specific functions that include:

•Identifying already existing or potentially hazardous conditions

•Determining the underlying causes of those hazards

•Monitoring hazard controls

•Recommending corrective action that could address each issue at hand

•Listening to concerns from workers and supervisors

•Offering a further understanding of jobs and tasks from safety standards.

After testing and inspection is done a report is prepared. These reports are used for taking decisions and corrective measures, they are also used to certify the inspected products. The essential requirements of a good report is said to be its unambiguity and reproducibility.

These reports are controlled and kept in a safe place as they are very important records. The data of these reports can be analyzed to obtain the trend analysis. The data analysis also helps in the data based decision making. An inspection report is important because it gives you key information about the condition of the lot inspected.

It shows the results of each check performed and includes a collection of photos taken by the inspector. The photos gives you an idea to see the condition of the products and packaging exactly as they looked during the inspection.

How quality control is performed

Quality control is performed at various stages. The more commonly performed checks include the following:

•Inspection upon receipt of raw materials and parts that will be placed into production, or of finished goods that will be for resale.

•Inspection prior to production. Normally, one unit or piece will be produced and, if it passes inspection, production run will proceed.

•Inspection in-process. The inspections will be made at intervals during the production process.

•Inspection after production. For many, this is considered as the final inspection and testing stage. A sample or 100% of the finished products will be inspected and tested.

•Inspection prior to shipping. The orders placed by a customer will be inspected and will not be shipped until the final inspector has cleared them.

What is the standard quality inspection price in China?

Inspection prices are calculated based on the number of inspectors and days of inspection: man-day. Most inspections require 1 man-day. It can vary depending on the inspected sampling size, the number of references and the complexity of your product.

Most quality inspection companies charge from $180 to $300 per quality inspection. This also includes transportation and the creation of the checklist. Some QC companies also offer discounts if you book an inspection a few days in advance.

To find out more on this we carried out an experiment on the prices of inspection in china.

1 man-day of work generally includes the following activities:

•Studying the client’s documents and the checklist — 15-30 min

•Going to the factory — this is 1-2 hours on average

Introduction, opening meeting, going to the warehouse — 10 min

•Counting the quantity, doing proper sampling, getting the picked samples to the inspection area — this is 30-45 min on average. It varies from 10 min in the best case to half a day in the worst case. I explained all this in ‘Sampling Is an Important Part of a Random Inspection‘.

•Inspecting the outer packing, the inner packing and the unit packing (if any), and the product, including time-consuming tests and visual check — about 4 hours of productive, focused work

•Eating and waiting during the factory’s lunch break — that’s easily 90 min, during which they don’t want an inspector to work alone without ‘supervision’

•Jotting down notes along the way, then explaining the findings to the factory representatives and defending one’s logic — about 15 min

•Coming back from the factory — again, 1-2 hours on average

•Preparing the draft report, including clear comments and many photos — 1 hour on average

•All in all, this is a 12-hour job, and it involves much more than people usually think of (typically just visual check).

•Travel expenses might also apply, on top of the cost of labor, if the factory is far away from the closest importer. Let’s take 3 typical examples:

•If the trip is only 60 km, it is included in the price.

•If the trip is 120 km, an extra 50 USD might be charged.

•If the trip is 400 km, an extra man-day might be charged (at half price) and an extra 100 USD might apply.

(Exact costs are quoted on a case-by-case basis, depending on transportation options available.

Why should I have my product inspected? 

In terms of product quality and details manufacturers will not always follow your wishes. Having the goods inspected before you pay for shipment is one way to be sure you with receive what you expected. 

It is far easier to negotiate with manufacturers to fix product defects before they leave the factory, and before you have sent them the balance of your payment. The factory will take more care with the product and packaging. 

Even a specialist private label manufacturer, making standard products that are printed with your own brand, can vary the design, materials and processes used in their factory. Don’t assume that the final product will exactly match the sample provided beforehand.

Should every order be inspected?

Sometimes businesses will have their first order from a factory inspected, then do away with inspections on subsequent orders. This saves money, but the assumption that follow-up orders will be of exactly the same quality as the first order can be mistaken.

It is suggested to get every order inspected, even if you have received good quality products from the manufacturer before. To save money factories often look to cheapen the product on the second or third order.

The inspection cost is an inexpensive way to ensure you are not left with a costly sub-standard order, whether you have been using them for some time or it’s your first time dealing with the factory.

What should be done when the product inspection finds problems?

This will all depend on the extent of the problem, whether if it is minor, you will have the choice to either accept the product or reject it. If it is significant, then you may need to have the supplier fix or replace the faulty products.

In this case, it is highly recommended to have a second inspection after the issue has been addressed. A second inspection ensures that the supplier fixes the issue found. The buyer should deduct the price of the second inspection from the supplier’s final invoice, as it should be the manufacturer’s cost to cover.

Sometimes inspections find defects at a level where cancellation of the entire order is a valid solution. The key thing is to ensure that the buyer gets what they paid for and that any issues are found before the product is shipped. There is a significant expense, and potential damage to the buyer’s reputation, if defects are only found when Amazon customers start returning the products.

What should be done if the manufacturer can not fix the problem?

Most factories are very keen to fix the problems because there is a lot of competition for manufacturing. They want to keep the buyer happy and get reorders in the future.

Orders can also set up with protection programs like Alibaba’s Trade Assurance, which limits payments to the manufacturer until the product has been accepted by the buyer. These also insure against manufacturers not keeping their end of the agreement. If they don’t fix the problem then the buyer can accept only the non-defective products, or cancel the order entirely.

It should be noted, however, that cancelling an order completely and getting a refund from the supplier is not a simple process, and can be quite difficult to achieve. Therefore it’s important to have a solid agreement with the manufacturer before the order begins, so both parties know what’s expected and the repercussions if not met.

In conclusion 

Having a complete understanding of how product inspection works can help you with choosing the best inspection company and help you get great quality out of the factory. If you’re looking for high quality for your products, a well-established company with equipped labs and testing capabilities is a better option than working with private quality control inspectors, Inspectaman offers all these services and more. They will ensure that all your inspections are a success.