Before conducting pre-shipment inspection, it’s crucial to know first that what this inspection is all about. In product manufacturing, quality inspection plays a significant role and pre-shipment inspection is a quality control process that is carried out at the supplier’s premises by either the in-house quality analysts or by an independent pre-shipment inspection service provider. The inspection is quite similar, especially in consumer goods industry where the quality of the good plays an imperative role. If the goods offered are of poor quality, the consumers are going to give a poor feedback which in turn will affect the reputation of the company concerned.

 

Pre-shipment inspection guards against nasty surprises which means that the goods are as per the quality standards prescribed in the product manual and are in working condition. This helps to build a strong brand image of the company in the long run. Being a part of the consumer goods industry, there are high chances that you have heard about a type of quality check called finished quality control and final random inspection. Though they appear as two different types, but in reality, it is a single quality inspection test.

 

What the Vendor Does during Pre-Shipment Inspection?

 

Manpower to help the Pre-Shipment Inspector:

 

The quality control inspector needs manpower to proceed with the inspection within the limited amount of time available. The factory manpower is required to:

• • Transport the randomly selected export cartons from the warehouse to the inspection room
• • Unpack the goods that the inspector arbitrarily selects from the selected export cartons
• • Repack the goods after the pre-shipment inspection

 

The factory workers assistance ensures that the quality inspector focuses on his main job i.e. identifying defects and non-conformities.

 

Working Space for the Quality Inspector:

To select the cartons indiscriminately, they should be located in a wide area where the inspector can see all of them and easily select the cartons randomly, as requested by international standards. The room for inspection should be large enough, well-lit and clean and the factory is responsible for preparing the working environment accordingly in advance, so the inspector checking quality of the products focus on his main job without losing time.

   

Why Do You Need to Address Packaging Requirements before Pre-Shipment Inspection?

 

The product packaging phase usually follows production and inspection can occur at various times before, during and after production. But in general, only pre-shipment inspection is conducted when at least 80% of the goods are finished and packed. It includes packaging checks as well.

 

Factory workers don’t normally pack units one by one as they come off the production line. Instead, they typically wait until production is close to finished before packing goods in bulk. Since it’s difficult to check packaging until so close to shipping, shipping delays often result when you find serious packaging issues during pre-shipment inspection. You can avoid these last-minute delays by addressing packaging requirements early and limiting your risk of encountering problems during pre-shipment inspection.

 

Hopefully, you now feel prepared to send off that confirmation email to your supplier and set your expectations for pre-shipment inspection. The process for preparing pre-shipment inspection can be split into three steps:

• • Set pre-shipment inspection requirements in your purchase order when placing your order
• • Provide both supplier and inspection staff with a quality control checklist before production, complete with clear packaging requirements
• • Provide all retail packaging design files to supplier and pre-shipment inspection staff, and if possible, request a product sample with retail packaging before production

 

 

Providing clear requirements to your supplier not only helps you get the packaging you want but also helps countless importers get the products they want. Regardless of whether your concern is your product or your packaging, in the world of manufacturing an ounce of prevention really is worth a pound of cure. Pre-shipment inspection would allow implementing corrective actions in time and limiting the risks in case the supplier refuses to inspect the correct sample size. So, conducting pre-shipment inspection is a must for every industry.

 

 

Want to perform a pre-shipment inspection for your packaging? Do it with China Inspection Service. HXI is the industry best pre-shipment inspection service provider located in China but serve the global clients with utmost preHXIion.