A sample check answers a sample question.
What arrived? Does the visible product match the reference? Which accessible measurements align? What needs clarification? A received-sample inspection answers those questions for the material and scope actually inspected.
It does not establish a defect rate for an order the inspector has not sampled, nor does it verify the supplier’s wider production capability.
A factory inspection has a different design.
Providers such as QIMA describe production-stage inspections conducted at supplier sites, including pre-shipment inspection. The service is built around a defined production stage, an inspection plan and the relevant order—not simply a parcel selected and sent by the supplier. See QIMA’s description.
ParcelWitness’s published base packages are not factory AQL inspection day rates. On-site lot sampling, factory audits, production monitoring and container-loading inspection are not included.
Who selected the sample matters.
A sample chosen by the supplier and sent to a desk may be useful for design review. It should not be described as independent random selection from a production lot.
QIMA offers sample picking as a distinct service alongside sample review. That distinction is useful: how a sample is obtained is part of what you can infer from it. Read about sample review and picking.
Testing is another separate question.
Appearance, construction and a visible label are not equivalent to laboratory evidence about safety, chemicals, electrical performance or durability. Intertek distinguishes testing, inspection and certification in its service descriptions. See Intertek’s service definitions.
Choose appropriate specialist support for the product and market. Do not rely on a Green observational result as regulatory clearance.
Use the right check at the right decision.
Before approving a first sample, resolve the design and presentation questions. Before a larger production or shipping decision, consider the separate evidence you need about the actual lot. Where safety or regulatory obligations apply, arrange the relevant specialist work.
These services can complement one another. The important point is not to make one report stand in for a job it did not perform.
Read the conclusion alongside the scope.
At ParcelWitness, a Green finding means the recorded result meets an assessed agreed criterion. Amber identifies a point that needs clarification or review. Red identifies a documented mismatch. Not assessed is not a pass.
The buyer’s commercial decision should consider the report, its limitations and any other evidence needed—not the color alone.