Most importers are aware of the importance of a pre-shipment inspection. They want to avoid additional costs associated with repairing or reworking damaged goods, avoiding any transportation costs that they might have to incur in order to transport the goods back to the supplier, as well as preventing loss of sales and integrity when damaged goods are sold to consumers.
Therefore, suppliers wish to make sure that the shipment they receive is free of defects and can satisfy consumer demand.
However, in case of very large or expensive orders pre-shipment inspection alone cannot suffice. Imagine you have ordered a large shipment of very expensive state-of-the-art machinery. Your inspectors inform you after conducting a pre-shipment inspection that most of the products have a major defect in them; this means that you would have to spend an enormous amount of funds to repair these products, all of which could have been avoided if you performed during process (DUPRO) inspections.
As you can understand, the main aim of the DUPRO (During Production Inspection) is to enable you to find any flaws or defects in the product early on in the production process, in order to avoid costly delays or any major problems. Now moving on to the next step: assuming that your inspection team has found some serious defects in your product- the next question that would arise is regarding what steps should you take to tackle this issue? What exactly happens next?
The following guide gives you the four steps that you need to take once your DUPRO inspection fails
Having analyzed your inspection report thoroughly once your DUPRO inspection has failed, it is up to you to take swift action in order to minimize any potential delays or losses. The thing to keep in mind is to move swiftly, because one of the key advantages of a DUPRO inspection is that you can save time and resources by correcting any defects immediately, rather than waiting for the final inspection to be completed in order to inspect and come across any flaws.
1. Examine the issue closely: how serious is the issue?
The first thing to do is decide upon the severity of the defect and then take any actions accordingly. Depending upon the type of product that you are producing, its functionality, and intended quality, some defects may be more severe than others. For example, in the case of a shoe producer, the fact that the size of the heel varies across the same size of shoe is a major defect that cannot pass quality inspection. It needs to be fixed if the goods are to be sellable.
2. Find out the root of the issue and how it can be fixed
If the shoe heels are not of a consistent height, you would want to closely monitor the manufacturing process to figure out where the issue lies: perhaps the workers are being careless when measuring the heels, or not using the right kind of tools that yield accurate results; perhaps the machine used for manufacturing the heels is malfunctioning. In order to correct this issue, you would need to train the workers so that they measure each heel adequately before fixing it on to the shoe so that the heel size matches your product specifications and approved samples.
3. What impact will the change have on the production process?
There are some changes that you might make in the process that would cause a greater delay than others. Perhaps you need to change a machinery part, or maybe carry out training sessions for the employees. Depending upon how radical the change that you want to implement is. It would take varying time and effort to implement your changes. Sometimes the factory may even oppose the idea of change that is presented by you or your inspection team.
4. Conduct an analysis to compare the severity and impact- then decide on the next plan of action
You should ideally compare the severity of your impact with how easy or difficult it is to carry out the necessary changes. For example, if the issue is majorly severe but can be fixed with little hardship. Then it makes sense to fix the issue right away. In contrast, if the defect is very minor but requires a large change. That is difficult to implement then it may be best to ignore it.
The steps given above will make it extremely easy for you to have a clear mind map. Regarding how to deal with defects that you come across in a DUPRO inspection. By moving swiftly and taking the right decisions promptly, you can save your business significant losses.
A real-life example of DUPRO Inspection
Do you always have to fix issues that you come across in a DUPRO inspection? Let’s consider an example
We came across a buyer who had ordered some decoration pieces for a holiday. Upon a DUPRO inspection, the inspection team found that there was a slight color variation in the decoration pieces.
Step 1: determining the severity
The customer decided that because all the decoration pieces had the same color variation. So while the color wasn’t exactly what was ordered. It wasn’t considered a major defect
Step 2: determining the cause and possible solution
The reason for the color variation was the staff not being able to interpret the specifications properly. Because the color could not be changed post-production, the only solution was to make new pieces and restart the process.
Step 3: determining the impact
Restarting the production would result in huge costs as well as a delay in the scheduled shipment. Which the buyer could not afford.
Step 4: decision making
The customer decides to go ahead with the varied color after negotiating a discount from the supplier.
This example shows how following these four steps can sometimes save you unnecessary costs and revisions.
Conclusion
We hope our advice helps you when your next DUPRO fails. If you need any inspection advise or help, please free to get in touch. We are more than happy to help