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How Do Container Loading Inspections Work, and Do You Need One?
Do you want to minimize the risk of carton tampering during container loading? Are you ordering multiple containers of goods and using container stuffing plans to maximize efficiency? Or have you established packing and marking systems to minimize product damage? If...
5 Types Of Quality Inspections Importers Should Know About
When you import goods from overseas, how can you be sure your supplier is making high-quality products that match your specifications? Quality inspections are an essential tool to verify that your manufacturer makes products that meet your requirements. They allow you...
AQL Special Inspection Levels: What Do You Need To Know?
AQL (Acceptance Quality Limit) is an important sampling method that you’ll use when conducting product inspections at your factory. So if you’re manufacturing consumer products and have been learning about AQL, you’ve probably looked at the various inspection levels...
De Minimis Exemption: Big Changes Coming for Small US Importers
If your business relies on small shipments into the U.S. under $800, you're probably familiar with the de minimis exemption. In September, the Biden-Harris Administration released a statement from the White House about upcoming changes that will impact those relying...
Quality Inspection: A Guide to Help You Make Great Products
Are you manufacturing consumer products at a factory abroad? Ensuring they’re well-made is essential to your success. A product that breaks easily or doesn’t meet customer expectations can lead to returns, negative reviews, and a damaged brand reputation. Quality...
Chinese New Year 2025: How to Prepare for the Factory Shutdown
Every time Chinese New Year (CNY) comes around, a new crop of importers gets thrown for a loop. Rookie buyers often fail to anticipate the holiday’s impact on their production timelines, shipping timelines, and quality control. As many seasoned importers know, it’s...
Pre-Shipment Inspections in China: 5 Things You Need to Know
Are you working with a manufacturer in China? Are you far away from the factory but thinking about sending someone to make sure the goods meet your quality standards? Many importers in this situation choose to conduct pre-shipment inspections. A Pre-Shipment...
How Production Monitoring Helps Importers Meet Quality and Ship Date Targets
Do you have long production runs at an overseas factory that last weeks or months? Have you experienced issues that delayed the delivery of finished goods? Or are you working with a new product or factory and feeling nervous about hitting your production timeline? If...
Manufacturing in India: Is it a Viable Alternative to China?
Have you been working to diversify your supply chain recently? Your company may be one of the many organizations pursuing a China plus one strategy and assessing manufacturers in alternative countries. One country that’s been frequently in the spotlight is India—due...
Is the Quality of Products Made in China Really That Bad?
There is a common perception in the West that China only makes low-quality goods. In many people's minds, a “Made in China” label may as well say, “This is a cheap, poorly-made product that will break within a few weeks.” Look at this meme — a great example of this...
How to Choose the Right AQL and Inspection Levels for Your Product
AQL sampling is an industry-standard method for consumer product inspections. It determines how many units the inspector should check and how many defects are allowable. Once you're face-to-face with an AQL chart or calculator, it's time to decide on your AQL and...
How to Successfully Move Production to India or Pakistan
Many consumer product companies have been diversifying their manufacturing to various countries around the globe. Among those countries are India and Pakistan, which have seen a lot of interest from consumer goods importers wanting to make their products there. Today,...
You Cannot Inspect Quality Into a Product: This is Why
It's a trap many consumer product importers fall into: the belief that third-party inspection is a magic bullet to fix their quality issues. They think inspecting their products is the single key to making high-quality goods that earn rave reviews. But, alas, this is...
How to Use the AQL Inspection Levels (General & Special)
To achieve optimal results in your quality inspections, you must grasp the concept of Acceptance Quality Limit (AQL) sampling, particularly the inspection levels. A thorough understanding of inspection levels empowers you to interpret your inspection results...
How do Pre-Shipment Inspections Work? An Overview for Importers
Ensuring product quality is paramount when sourcing products from emerging markets like China, Vietnam, or Turkey. Pre-shipment inspections, a proven quality control procedure, help you achieve good quality and instill confidence in your import process. Consider this...
Audit Your Factory for Supply Chain Visibility and Mapping
Today, the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) and similar regulations have thrust supply chain visibility, transparency, and mapping into the spotlight. For many companies, it's no longer a choice but a necessity to delve deeper into their sub-suppliers—the...
Importing to Australia: 3 Essential Tips for Navigating Regulatory Compliance
Importing goods to Australia can be a worthwhile endeavor. Still, importers need to navigate a myriad of standards and regulatory compliance measures, and sometimes, businesses don’t pay enough attention to them. Ignorance of these standards can lead to devastating...
Quality Inspection Checklists: How to Create Them
When you sell consumer products in the US or European market, working with manufacturers in low-cost countries can be fear-inducing. The possibility that you might randomly receive a shipment of substandard or unsafe products is like an ever-present shadow looming...