Asia inspection Services for Retailers - Product Quality Inspections,Factory inspections, Batch inspections&Third Party Inspection When we talk about Quality at SQI Global, we embrace the 4M+E philisophy and apply this to all aspects of operational assessments.
Man
How can operators influence the outcome and efficiency.
Method
How can the method or process influence the outcome and efficiency.
Materials
What changes in the materials influence the outcome or efficiency.
Machine
How can equipment influence the outcome and efficiency.
Environment
What environmental conditions can influence the outcome.
The 4M+E philisophy allows us to focus on the following aspects of supplier operations
All  of our quality assessments undertake deep dive analysis using the 4M+E method, allowing us to ensure Process, Quality, Safety, Environment  and Social Ethics meet all customer and regulatory requirements. We provide the following assessments:  
Product Inspections (in process and finish goods inspection) audits
Supplier factory quality audit
Supplier Ethical Sourcing audit
(if required)
Supplier SMT audit (if relevant)
The main advantage of our quality assessment processess is our ability to not only find what is non conforming, but we identify opportunities for improvement and share our vast experience of excellence with the supplier, who is then able to make meaningful improvements to their operations, which in turn improves the value offer to the customer. Our online Third Party Inspection Agency process is all about educating suppliers on best practice in  electronic manufacturing.
Our aim is to unburden customer's resources in managing supplier related activities and allow you to focus on developing your brands.
1. Supplier factory quality audits
"You found a potential new supplier to collaborate with, but unsure of their quality system."
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Once you have targeted a new supplier, it is crucially important to ensure the supplier has robust operational controls of its factory and quality processes to ensure operational errors are minimised and has a focus on continuous improvements.
Our supplier factory quality audits is used to evaluate a supplier for operational excellence and is based on two frameworks, customer's specific requirements and where one does not exists the ISO 9001 framework. We believe it is important to understand the customer's specific requirements first and evaluate the supplier accordingly to the customer's needs.

The intention of these audits are to uncover any  potential operational issues at the beginning of the relationship allowing the customer and supplier sufficient time to work together to resolve open issues.

These audits are used to assess not only new supplier's capabilities, but can also be undertaken on existing suppliers on a routinely basis to assess minimum standards are being held and more importantly to evaluate if the supplier is improving based on the previous audits.
These audits cover all aspects of factory operations, main areas include：
- Organisational structure
- Financial stability
- People experience
- Use of technology
- Supplier chain management
- Raw material management
- Production planning and layout
- Equipment
- R&D process
- Continuous Improvements
- Customer specific requirements
As we cover the above main areas of an operation, we always apply the 4M+E philosophy to each audit criteria. For example, when auditing incoming inspection process we consider the following:
- Man: Are people skilled and have sufficient experience to enable them to inspect for defects？
- Method: Are people using the correct sample size method to inspect, e.g. AQL as per ISO28590？
- Material: Materials used for inspection influence the results, e.g. are lint free gloves used to inspect lens.
- Machine: Do operators have the right equipment to undertake the inspection activity？
- Environment: Is the lighting conditions sufficient to undertake visual inspection activities？

We provide an easy to read and digest audit report, that has all the relevant information to make an informed decision

Besides undertaking the audit assessments, we can help customers by undertaking follow up activities to ensure the supplier makes the necessary improvements.

We are Factory inspections service provider and Our aim is to unburden customer's resources to manage supplier related activities, let our experts manage these activities on your behalf.
2. Product inspections
"You have given a purchase order to allow the supplier to being manufacturing,
but you have no on-site quality representative to ensure the product is manufactured to your requirements"
——
Our Product Quality Inspections services are designed to ensure, the products being manufactured meets the correct quality requirements of the customer. Before we begin the inspection activities, we sit down with the customer to firstly understand the risk level of the product being manufactured, as these risks will determine the level of inspection required. Our Batch inspections services company then develop an inspection checklist based on the customer requirements. See below for our inspection guideline.
Pilot  / First Production Builds1 to 3 batches
Production build after 12 months gap1 to 3 batches
Semi Mature  Production Builds 4 to 7  batches
Mature  Production Builds
+ 7  batches
Minor defects
Inconvenience to consumer (non warranty)
Moderate defects
Inconvenience to consumer (warranty)
Major defects
does not meet regulatory compliance (recall)
Serious defects
Cause injury to customer  (recall)
AQL Finish Goods Inspection
This inspection is for low risk products that are mature, where multiple batches have already been successfully made and where the risk is determined to be low, we recommend sampling inspection (AQL) at the finished goods stage, using ISO28590. Depending on the batch size, this activity can easily be undertaken in a few hours. We then  provide results of the inspection to the customer to determine approval of the batch to ship, or you may authorise us to make this decision on your behalf.
100% Finish Goods Inspection
This inspection is for low risk products that are either first production of a new design or where the product has not been manufactured for over 12 months.  First production or when production has not occurred for a long time, the opportunity for error is higher. Depending on the batch size and inspection items to check, this can take a full day or several days to complete.
AQL In process Inspection
This inspection is for high risk products that are already mature where multiple batches have already been successfully made. This inspection is to ensure the product maintains a high degree of compliance to regulatory and safety requirements, minimising the risk of a major recall from the market. Depending on the batch size and inspection items to check, this may take few days or longer depending on the production activities.
100%  In process Inspection
This inspection is for high risk products that are either first production of a new design or where the product has not been manufactured for over 12 months. Depending on the batch size, inspection items to check and production process complexity, this can take a several day to a week to complete.
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2
3
4

100% Finish Goods Inspection

100% In Process Inspection

AQL Finish Goods Inspection

AQL In Process Inspection

Medium risk

High risk

Medium risk

Low risk
Production Immaturity
Increase Quality Risk
3. Supplier SMT audit
"You have given a purchase order to allow the supplier to being manufacturing,
but you have no SMT experience to determine if the supplier has a robust SMT process to ensure your electronic PCBA is manufactured to the highest standard.”
——
Surface Mount Technology (SMT) process is the single most crucial production process in electronic product manufacturing and one that needs to be adhered to the highest quality standard.

Our auditors are experts in this field and understand the best practice methodologies that needs to be adopted to ensure a robust PCBA is produced.  Since there are many different levels of automation used in SMT manufacturing it is important for the customer to understand the level of automation required for their product, based on the above risk profile.

If you have no  expertise in the field, we are here to help assess the risk profile of your product and establish the level of automation required for SMT.

When we assess any SMT facility, we apply our standard 4M+E process as well as the follow key specific criteria's;
- We look for facilities that abide by industry best practice standards in SMT manufacturing:
       * IPC-J-STD-001 - Requirements for Soldered Electrical and Electronic Assemblies
       * IPC-A-610 - Acceptability of Electronic Assemblies, class 2 is a minimum inspection standard  
       * IPC-7711/7721 - Rework, Modification and Repair of Electronic Assemblies
       * ISO 14644-1 Part 1 - Classification of air cleanliness (- Clean rooms to meet ISO 7 or higher, - Equivalent to US FED 209 class 10k
       * ANSI/ESD S20.20 - Protection of Electrical and Electronic Parts, Assemblies and Equipment (ESD standard)
       * IPC-1601 - Printed Board Handling and Storage Guidelines
Facility and Environment controls
Component management
Design for manufacture
Key equipment, best SMT operations have the following key equipment
Control systems
* Operational areas need to Temperature and Humidity control as per IPC-J-STD-001
* Cleanroom Environment, Operational assembly areas need to be well maintained cleanroom conditions, - Refer to ISO 7 or higher
* ESD control, Operational assembly areas need to be Full ESD controlled environment, - Refer to ANSI/ESD S20.20
*Lighting conditions, Lighting conditions at workstations should be sufficient to allow for inspection, - Refer to IPC-J-STD-001
* Storage of electrical components in temperature and humidity-controlled environments
* Printed Circuit Board designs need to ensure, ease of routing, components not place within 2mm from PCB edge
* Component selection is used as specified and no use of 'grey market' components
* Where two reflow cycles are required, components are selected to withstand two reflow profiles
* automated solder paste printing, with self cleaning of stencil
* 3D Solder Paste inspection machine to detect missing solder
* Pick and place machines, with component feeder and machine location verified via barcode system to eliminate wrong component being loaded
* Reflow oven with at least 11 stage temperature zones
* 3D Automated Optical Inspection machine
* In Line Circuit testing built into the PCB, to allow electrical testing
* X-Ray inspection if BGA type components are used
* Functional testing to ensure full test coverage
* Automated Routing machine, PCB should be machine routed, NEVER hand separated to prevent strain on key components like Capacitors
* Wave or Selective soldering, for through hole components
* Traceability system in place to be able to track to the exact SMT component reel level
* Equipment maintenance program in place which follows equipment manufacturers guidelines
* Use of Statistical process Control
* Measurement System analysis on all key processes and equipment to ensure process capability
We provide an easy to read and digest audit report, that has all the relevant information to make an informed decision.
Besides undertaking the audit assessments, we can help customers by undertaking the follow up activities to ensure the supplier makes the necessary improvements.
Our aim is to unburden customer's resources to manage supplier related activities. Let our experts manage these activities on your behalf.
4. Supplier Ethical Sourcing audits
"How do you validate your supply chain is acting responsibly"
——
As the global supply chain becomes more complex, it is difficult for ethical social auditing company to keep track of your suppliers. Driven by modern day end consumer and regulatory requirements all companies have a moral responsibility to ensure their supply chain is acting responsibly at all times. These responsibilities include:
- Eliminating modern Slavery Practices
- Ensure workplace Labour Standards meet regulatory standards
- Work place Health & Safety system in place to protect workers
- There is no Discrimination within the workplace
- Environmental Management system in place
- Business operates in an ethical manner

If companies fail to address these issues, the repercussions can lead to consumer boycotts of your brands and regulatory fines.

Our auditors are not only skilled in finding non compliances in these areas, but also take time to educate the supply chain on best practices and the benefits that come with being an ethically responsible supplier.

Reach out to our team of experts for ethical social auditing Service Online and lets us provide your brands with confidence to compete in the marketplace.