What a pre-shipment inspection report shows, and when to book one

A during-production inspection (often called DUPRO) happens when a share of the order, commonly around a fifth, is produced, early enough to correct a fault before the whole run repeats it. A pre-shipment inspection (PSI) happens when the order is fully produced and most of it is packed, and is the one most buyers mean. A container loading check (CLC) happens as the goods go into the container and confirms quantities, condition and loading.

The report says which one it is in the header, and the quantities block shows whether the order really was at that stage. A report headed pre-shipment on an order that was a fifth produced is a during-production check by another name.

An inspection only has leverage while you still hold money. Booked before the balance falls due, a failed report is a reason to withhold payment until rework is done and re-inspected. Booked after payment, the same report is a record of what you already own. The inspection date on the report sits, in a well-run order, before the ship date and before the final payment.

CBP's reasonable-care guidance asks importers whether they have reliable procedures to make sure merchandise complies with other agencies' requirements. An inspection is one procedure, and it answers questions about quality, quantity and specification. It does not answer the regulatory ones, which is the next point.

The template above shows what every inspection report carries, whatever the inspection company's format: the header with type, references and dates; the overall result; the quantities found against the order; the sampling plan; the defects found against the defects allowed, per class; and the checklists, tests, photos and inspector's remarks. Read the header and quantities first, because they tell you whether the result means what it seems to.

AQL stands for Acceptable Quality Limit. Inspectors do not check every piece; they draw a sample whose size follows a sampling standard, most often ANSI/ASQ Z1.4, from the lot size and the inspection level chosen. The AQL for each defect class then sets how many defects the sample may contain and the lot still pass. Critical defects, the ones that could hurt someone or break the law, normally carry an AQL of zero. Common settings for consumer goods are 2.5 for major defects and 4.0 for minor ones, but they are a choice, not a rule.

That choice belongs in the purchase order, agreed with the supplier before production. An AQL the factory first sees on the inspection day is an argument waiting to happen.

The inspector reports; the buyer decides. Reports say so on their face: the client has the final decision to accept or reject. A FAIL is information. Depending on what failed, the answer is rework and a re-inspection, sorting the defective pieces out, a price adjustment, or holding the balance. A PASS is not a guarantee either: it says the sample met the agreed level on that day.

Read the defect list against your own specification and approved sample. A generic checklist finds generic defects; the faults that matter to your listing are the ones you told the inspector to look for.

An inspection is not laboratory testing. A drop test or a function check on the factory floor is a quality check, and it is not the third-party testing a Children's Product Certificate rests on: the rule requires periodic testing by a third-party conformity assessment body. An inspector does not check the lab report either, unless asked to confirm it exists.

It is also not a supplier audit. An inspection looks at goods; an audit looks at the factory. And it says nothing about whether the supplier appears on a government list, which is a separate check with a separate tool.

Give the inspector what the report will otherwise say was missing: the approved sample, the specification, the purchase order with the AQL, the packing and marking requirements, and any test the goods should pass on site. The inspector's remarks block is where the absence of these shows up, and a remark such as no approved sample provided weakens every other line of the report.