The defective products discovered during an inspection are distributed into three categories: Critical, major and minor defects.
Critical defects
The rejected product is indicated based on experience or judgment. It can be dangerous and harmful for the user, or cause the product to be legally detained, or violates mandatory regulations (standards) and/or customer requirements.
Major defects
It is a nonconformity rather than a critical defect. It can cause failure or substantially reduce the usability of the product for the intended purpose, or there is an obvious cosmetic nonconformity (defect) that affects the merchantability of the product or reduces the value of the product compared to the customers' requirements. A major problem will most likely cause customers to request product replacements or refunds, which will affect their perception of the products.
Minor defects
A minor defect does not affect the expected performance of the product nor violates any established standards related to the effective usage of the product. Moreover, it doesn't deviate from the requirements of the customer. Nonetheless, a small problem may cause a certain degree of dissatisfaction to the user, and a few small problems combined could lead to the user's returning of the product.
EC inspectors use the MIL STD 105E platform, which is a recognized standard by every manufacturer. This US standard is now equivalent to the inspection standards of all national and international standards organizations. It is a proven method for accepting or rejecting products sampled from large shipments.
This method is known as AQL (Acceptable Quality Level):
As an inspection company in China, EC uses AQL to determine the maximum allowable defect rate. If the defect rate exceeds the highest acceptable level during the inspection process, the inspection will terminate immediately.
Note: EC purposely states that random inspections DO NOT guarantee that all of the products will meet the customer's quality standards. The only way to achieve these standards is by performing a full inspection (100% of the goods).
Post time: Jul-09-2021