Trust the factory's QC for reorders from a supplier with a long clean track record; hire an independent inspector for every first order and anything above a few lakhs in value, because the factory's own team is incentivised to pass the batch, not fail it. An inspection fee that catches a bad batch before it ships is cheaper than eating the cost of returns, a bad review, or a full re-manufacture.
3 resources, 3 link-checked.
A free, downloadable inspection checklist template, the actual document a third-party inspector (or you) would carry onto the factory floor.
From tetrainspection.com by Tetra Inspection
A major third-party inspection firm's own AQL explainer and calculator, useful both to learn the standard and to see who you might hire to apply it.
From qima.com by QIMA
A catalogue of the specific cons that trip up product founders, the golden-sample switch, fake certifications, price bait-and-switch, and traders posing as factories, with concrete defences for each.
From cosmosourcing.com by Cosmo Sourcing
The same ground, over in Build the product, our Starting Up track.
