AQL Inspection for Garments: Sampling & Lot Decisions

1. Agree the plan before selecting garments

Start with the buyer’s current inspection manual, contract and authorised edition of the sampling standard. ISO 2859-1 covers acceptance sampling by attributes; the applicable edition, inspection level, severity and switching rules must be agreed, not silently changed by the inspector. An AQL label alone is insufficient to determine sample size or acceptance numbers.

Define the lot before inspection: identify the style, purchase order, colour and size scope, production quantity and location. Decide which checks fall under defect sampling and which have separate requirements, such as measurement, packaging, legal labelling or product safety. Record who can authorise a hold, rejection, concession or release.

• Buyer policy and sampling reference, including edition/version
• Frozen lot identity and quantity
• Inspection level, severity and sampling scheme
• Authorised sample size and Ac/Re rules by defect class
• Defect manual, measurement method and escalation owner

2. Select a traceable sample, not the easiest cartons

Use the random-selection procedure required by the authorised plan. Make all units in the defined lot accessible; selecting only open cartons, top layers or garments offered by a supervisor introduces convenience bias. Where size or colour coverage is required, follow the agreed allocation procedure rather than inventing one after viewing the goods.

Keep a selection record linking each inspected unit to its carton or location. If the lot is incomplete, inaccessible or mixed with another order, stop and resolve the lot definition. Do not add convenient replacement units merely because a selected garment is difficult to retrieve.

3. Separate defect classification from counting

Inspect against the approved specification and physical reference sample. Record the defect, location, classification, unit identity and evidence reference. Critical, major and minor classifications depend on the applicable buyer manual, product and market; a generic internet list cannot settle an ambiguous safety or appearance issue.

Confirm whether the plan counts nonconforming units or individual nonconformities. One garment can have several defects, so these measures are not interchangeable. Keep measurement results and any separate mandatory tests visible instead of treating a general appearance pass as evidence that all requirements passed.

4. Apply Ac/Re without changing the rule

For an authorised single-sample rule, Ac is the acceptance number and Re is the rejection number. Compare the recorded counts with the exact rule for each class, then check all other release conditions. Double or multiple sampling schemes have their own staged decisions; do not apply a single-sample shortcut to them.

Illustrative only: if a supplied major-defect rule is Ac 5 / Re 6, a completed sample with five counted major defects meets that class’s acceptance rule; six reaches its rejection rule. These numbers are not an official table entry or a recommendation for any lot. A class pass is not automatically a shipment release.

5. Document disposition and any reinspection

Keep the inspection report, selection record, defect evidence and authorisation together. Record acceptance, hold or rejection with an accountable approver. An inspector should not quietly remove defective units and redraw a sample until the lot passes.

Following rejection, use the buyer-authorised containment, sorting, rework and reinspection procedure. Preserve the failed inspection and identify what changed in the lot. A commercial concession must be documented by someone authorised to make it; it must not override applicable safety or legal requirements.

• Original counts and failed requirements retained
• Suspect stock segregated and traceable
• Correction and reinspection scope authorised
• New report linked to the original inspection
• Release decision signed by the authorised person