What is AQL?
AQL stands for Acceptable Quality Level. This is a statistical sampling technique that is used to establish the quality of a batch of goods. The AQL system determines the maximum number of defective items in a batch of goods and guarantees the compliance of the products with the required quality standard.
AQL system has gained wide popularity in the garment industry because of its ease of use, low costs, and reliability of results.
How AQL Works
The AQL technique is based on sampling a certain number of garments in a batch and inspecting them for any defects or flaws. The number of sampled garments and the allowed number of defects depends on the AQL level set by agreement between the manufacturer and the buyer.
For instance, if the AQL level is set at 2.5, this means that not more than 2.5% of the garments in the batch must have defects or flaws. The sample size depends on the batch size and the inspection process is conducted following the accepted quality control techniques.
Product quality is of great importance in the garment sector since customers expect a consistent level of product quality. A popular quality control measure in the garment sector is AQL (Acceptable Quality Level) Inspection. AQL inspection is a statistical procedure that allows one to determine whether or not a consignment has met the desired product quality level before delivery to the client.
AQL inspection is not like 100% inspection as all the goods in a lot are not inspected. Rather, some specified number of garments from the lot are randomly chosen and inspected against certain international standards such as ISO 2859-1. On the basis of the inspection results, the entire consignment is either accepted or rejected.
An AQL inspection usually involves three categories of defects: Critical, Major and Minor. Critical defects are those defects which are of the highest priority as they may cause potential safety problems and/or violation of laws. Major defects involve those defects which affect either performance or appearance of a garment and make the client unhappy. Minor defects are those defects which are very trivial and cannot affect the usability of the garment.
Inspection starts with the determination of production lot sizes and the selection of an appropriate inspection level, usually General Inspection Level II. The AQL sampling chart helps determine the sample size and its acceptance/rejection criterion. The inspectors draw samples from various cartons and inspect the garments for their defects, dimensions, craftsmanship, labeling, packaging, and overall quality. When the number of defects does not exceed the allowed number, the shipment passes the inspection and can be accepted; when it exceeds the rejection number, the shipment fails the inspection.
The usual AQL values for critical, major, and minor defects are 0.0, 2.5, and 4.0, respectively. However, these values differ based on the buyer’s needs, products, and other factors.
AQL inspection can be of great benefit to the manufacturer as well as to the buyer. This will aid in detection of quality problems before shipping, fewer customer complaints and returns, greater efficiency during manufacturing, and buyer assurance. More importantly, it will ensure that quality is maintained during the whole process of manufacture and not at the end of the process only.
In today’s apparel industry, provision of defect-free products is necessary for success. AQL inspection can be used to evaluate the quality of the products while considering the cost of inspection and production efficiency. In addition, by incorporating AQL inspection along with in-line quality control and process improvement, garment manufacturers can be able to conform to global quality standards.
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