A defined release point between production and shipment. Inspection criteria are written per product before the inspection takes place, third-party inspection assesses the goods against those criteria, and the goods are released or held on the findings.
Verify that manufactured goods meet the agreed specification before shipment, and establish the pass conditions in advance so that findings are assessed against a written standard rather than negotiated afterwards.
Criteria are built per product from the failure modes that product is actually likely to have.
| Criterion set | Derived from |
|---|---|
| Functional tests | The core use case |
| Durability and stress | Repeated-use conditions the product will meet in service |
| Fit and compatibility | Known fitment risks for the category |
| Performance requirements | The specification the customer is being sold |
Known product risks are written as testable checks with a pass condition. General quality statements are not used as criteria.
Third-party pre-shipment inspection assesses workmanship, physical condition, packaging condition and specification conformity. Inspection photographs are reviewed alongside the written findings.
Findings are assessed against the established requirements and defect severity is recorded. Results are reviewed with the supplier. Goods are released, or rework and re-inspection are required before dispatch.
An inspection carried out without agreed criteria produces a report that each party reads differently. The supplier sees acceptable variation, the buyer sees defects, and the disagreement takes place with goods sitting at the factory and a shipping window closing. Defining the checks in advance moves that disagreement to before production, where resolving it costs less.
Defects found at inspection and complaints received from customers both feed back into the criteria for the following production run.