Mobile Phone Quality Inspections: This is How They Work

by | May 15, 2019 | Product Inspections, Quality Control

At Insight Quality, we inspect many types of products.

Anything you can find in a retail store, we’ve probably inspected, from electronics to clothing to home furnishings and more. When it comes to electronics, we can’t forget about mobile phones.

These devices have become a ubiquitous part of modern life. According to Statista, the number of mobile phone users in the world is expected to reach 4.68 billion in 2019. That means a lot of phones need to be manufactured, and many of them will be inspected by third-party quality service providers like Insight.

So, how are these mobile phone inspections conducted?

If you are in the electronics industry, you may be particularly interested in this question. And if you’re not, you may be interested in the general process of quality inspections as well as today’s free sample checklist.

At the end of this article, you’ll be able to download a sample inspection checklist for mobile phones. Whether you’re producing mobile phones or not, this checklist can be very helpful if you are thinking about what types of checks to include for your own product.

Let’s get started.

How do We Check Mobile Phones for Quality?

When inspecting mobile phones, as with other types of products, we use an inspection checklist. We’ve written more about checklists here. But, in essence, the checklist has all the various items that need to be covered by our inspectors as they examine each phone.

A mobile phone checklist covers a number of areas. And the inspection sheet is generally divided into the following sections:

  • Packaging Requirements – Checking items such as the graphics and logos on the master carton, pallet packaging, and individual unit packaging.
  • Visual Inspection – Covers the look of the materials, workmanship, and texture vs. the approved sample. It also includes checking for dirt and sharp edges, as well as making sure the SIM card and IMEI numbers match.
  • Physical Requirements – The main thing we look for is usually the weight of the product and carton. Their weight should match the specifications, within a certain tolerance.
  • Specific Functional Tests – Here we are actually turning on and using the device to verify that it works the way it should. This includes checks like powering it on and off, scrolling, taking photos, deleting them, etc.
  • Barcode Verification – Verifying that the UPC label on the carton matches the information in the purchase order.

It’s important to note that an inspection is conducted by randomly selecting products at the factory.

We follow standard AQL inspection procedures for mobile quality checks and when checking any kind of product. AQL sampling is a sound statistical method for determining how many mobile devices to check.

3 Things to Consider When Developing an Inspection Checklist

Every step that our inspectors take at the factory is determined by our customers’ inspection checklists.

A good checklist is essential to doing proper quality control for your product. When you are developing a checklist, you should consider these three things.

#1 Imagine the Types of Issues That Might Go Wrong with Your Product

It can be tricky to imagine what might go wrong with your product if you haven’t sold it before. But it’s important that you do the best you can. If this is a new product, think about whether your samples had any issues as you were developing them. Consider how your product is supposed to look and function. Then imagine it not looking or functioning that way.

If you have sold the product before, look at return data, customer emails, and complaints. What kinds of things have gone wrong in the past that you want to avoid?

#2 Work Collaboratively with Your Inspection Services Provider to Develop Your Checklist

Your inspection checklist is not something that you should just leave to your inspection services provider to create. And you shouldn’t create it without their feedback, either.

Through the combination of their experience and your intimate knowledge of your product and customers, you can work together and create something that will cover all the bases.

#3 This is a Living Document That Can be Changed Over Time

Creating a checklist is not something that you do once and then forget about it forever. There may be issues that come up that you didn’t anticipate as you were creating it.

When new issues occur, you need to be sure that you update your checklist to reflect this. That way you can make sure that the inspectors check for these specific defects in the future.

Download a Sample Mobile Phone Inspection Checklist

Hopefully, now you understand what generally goes into an inspection checklist for mobile phones.

Remember that, no matter your product, the inspection checklist is an important document when conducting third-party inspections. Also, keep in mind that this is a living document and one that you should work on collaboratively with your inspection services provider.

Quality Inspection Checklist

Here, we’ve given you a sample checklist to download. It uses mobile phones as an example.

No matter what kind of product you have, this checklist can be useful to you as you work to determine what kinds of checks to perform for your own unique product and circumstances.

Download the checklist by clicking the button below.

Thanks for reading! Do you have any questions about the article? Is there something else you’d like to add? Leave a comment below and we will get back to you.

Andy Church

Founder & CEO, Insight Quality Services

4 Comments

  1. anulashin

    am try to inspect a phone. you will give me pleas

    Reply
  2. Hassan Iamut Said

    Dou you have one universal to inspect any cellphone models?

    Reply

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