Since 2008, the ISO 2859-1:1999 adheres on quality assurance (QA). These are met with many inspection levels and sampling. What is AQL (Acceptance Quality Limit) will be a difficult term for the instance for any importer and supplier? When you follow the best is ISO, you must adhere as per the compliance. This is because any importer may look upon the number of defective products. It must be within the permissible level. This is set by the various levels of agreement set in-between the supplier and importer. However, during an inspection, an importer will look upon the total quantity. They will accept only the permissible level of defects. Here we have discussed this practice in QA.
Manufacturer and Quality Assurance
Every manufacturer must follow the standards in AQL. The importer usually conducts various inspections randomly. This is in order to avoid defective products in the final shipment. However, they can accept the permissible level only. When they exceed the limits, the manufacturer must take action for what went wrong during the manufacturing process. They can use AQL table and chart to do various analyses. By this, a manufacturer can avoid defective products. This is because the importer will accept only the permissible level of defective products. This can be a 10/1000 product. If it exceeds the limit, the importer can reject the order.
Six Sigma level and QC Assurance
Many companies rely on the six-sigma level. They are very particular about AQL standards. This is because they are more concerned about safety while using a product irrespective of their cost. This can happen with medical equipment and allied products. Here, AQL is strictly followed. For this, they conduct various levels of inspection. They are as follows.
- Level 1
- Level 2
- Level 3
- Level 4
- Special Levels S-1
- Special Levels S-2
- Special Levels S-3
- Special Levels S-4
These inspection levels are as per the ISO 2859-1:1999. The importers must follow the best compliance in trade. You will be at a loss when you receive many numbers of defective products from your supplier. You can hire an audit or inspection agency to conduct an AQL inspection. This will be helpful to the manufacturer to avoid the production of defective goods. The importers must specify the permissible limits and set a QC standard to meet the product quality. The inspection agencies are there to check these AQL standards with your manufacturer. By this, you can avoid the below-mentioned AQL defects.
- You can avoid critical defects in a product.
- You must not accept minor defects, which are more than 4% as per AQL.
- You must not accept major defects of more than 2.5% as per AQL.
These are the best practice in quality assurance you can follow with your supplier.
What is AQL may be a question for the manufacturer and an importer? You can follow the best practice in audit and inspection to meet the AQL level of standards. By this, you are following ISO 2859-1:1999.
