Quality control providers check factories and goods before they leave the country of manufacture. They cover factory audits, supplier verification, in-line checks and pre-shipment inspection to AQL sampling, and they are the layer that protects an order when the sourcing agent and the factory are not the same party.
A quality control provider is not a sourcing agent. The agent finds the factory and negotiates the price; the inspection company verifies that what the factory promised is what the factory produces. In practice the two roles are often separated on purpose, because an agent paid by commission on the order value has little incentive to delay a shipment over a defect rate.
The standard work is three steps. A factory audit looks at the facility itself: legal registration, capacity, machinery, staffing, quality management system and, where relevant, social and environmental compliance. Supplier verification checks whether the company exists as described, who owns it and whether it has the export licence it claims. Pre-shipment inspection then samples finished goods against the specification using AQL tables, typically on a per-man-day basis, and produces a report with defect classification and photographs before the container is sealed.
When comparing providers, look for what the report actually contains rather than the price per man-day. A usable report names the AQL level and the sampling plan, classifies critical, major and minor defects, documents quantities inspected against quantities offered, and states who signed it. Also check where the inspectors are employed, how quickly reports are delivered after the visit, and whether the provider offers in-line or during-production inspection, because defects caught during production are cheaper to fix than defects caught at the loading dock.
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