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Garment Quality Control & AQL Inspection

Checking a garment order only after it’s finished is the single most common reason sourcing orders go wrong. By the time a final-only inspection catches a defect, the fabric is already cut, the labor is already spent, and the options left are limited and expensive. Real quality control happens at three separate points, not one.

The Three Inspection Stages

Before a new factory enters the network, we look at:

Fabric inspection before cutting

A four-point fabric inspection system checks for defects before a single piece is cut — the cheapest stage to catch a problem, because nothing has been committed yet. This includes shade band and colour continuity approval, plus shrinkage and GSM verification against the approved sample.

Inline inspection during production

Checks happen while goods are still on the machines: daily line checks during stitching, measurements checked against the size set, and corrections made immediately rather than discovered at the end of the run.

AQL-based final inspection

Before anything is packed for export, a statistical sampling check — industry-standard AQL levels of 1.0, 2.5, or 4.0, agreed with you in advance — covers workmanship, measurement, packing, and labelling. A photo report is shared before shipment is approved, not after.

Third-Party Lab Testing

When your market or retailer requires it, independent lab testing is arranged through recognised labs such as SGS, Intertek, or Bureau Veritas — covering colour fastness, pilling, shrinkage, tensile strength, and chemical or child-safety testing for kidswear categories specifically.

Why This Is Worth Doing Properly

Global quality-assurance firms like QIMA and Eurofins built entire businesses around exactly this gap — the fact that “the factory does its own QC” is not the same as independent, staged inspection. The difference between a buyer who had a great experience sourcing from Pakistan and one who didn’t is almost always whether inspection happened at all three stages, or only at the end.

Where This Connects

Quality control runs alongside production management and feeds directly into compliance documentation for markets that require inspection records as part of import paperwork.

Frequently Asked Questions

FAQ

Acceptable Quality Limit inspection is a statistical sampling method used industry-wide to check a batch of finished goods for defects, rather than inspecting every single unit. AQL levels (such as 1.0, 2.5, or 4.0) set how strict that sampling standard is.

Before. Fabric inspection happens before cutting specifically so a defect is caught while it still costs nothing to fix.

No — it’s arranged specifically when your market or retailer requires it, since not every order needs it and it adds cost and time.

Ask about QC on your specific product

Tell us your product, and we’ll tell you if pieces is realistic for it — and what it will cost.

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