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Acceptance Quality Limit (AQL) For Product Inspection

The document explains the concept of Acceptance Quality Limit (AQL), which is defined as the worst tolerable quality level in product inspections, expressed as a percentage of acceptable defects. It outlines AQL parameters such as lot size, inspection levels, and AQL limits, as well as categories of defects including critical, major, and minor. The document emphasizes that AQL standards vary by industry and are influenced by factors like safety and financial implications.

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30 views7 pages

Acceptance Quality Limit (AQL) For Product Inspection

The document explains the concept of Acceptance Quality Limit (AQL), which is defined as the worst tolerable quality level in product inspections, expressed as a percentage of acceptable defects. It outlines AQL parameters such as lot size, inspection levels, and AQL limits, as well as categories of defects including critical, major, and minor. The document emphasizes that AQL standards vary by industry and are influenced by factors like safety and financial implications.

Uploaded by

benjamin.maina
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Acceptance Quality Limit (AQL) for Product

Inspection
https://www.olanabconsults.com/articles/acceptance-quality-limit-aql-for-product-inspection

ISO 2859-1 defines acceptable quality level (AQL) as the “quality level that is
the worst tolerable.” What this means is that, AQL, expressed as a
percentage or ratio of the number of defects compared to the total quantity,
measures how many defective components are considered acceptable
during random sampling quality inspections. AQL refers to the maximum
number of defective units, beyond which the lots containing the defects are
rejected.

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AQL Parameters
These parameters are used in AQL tables to determine the acceptable level
of production run.

Lot size

Lot size refers to the quantity of a product manufactured in a single


production run. That is, the total quantity of a product ordered for
manufacturing. If different products are ordered, each product is
considered as a separate lot. If you ordered only one product, the lot size is
the total batch quantity. The quantity of each product is the lot size.

Inspection Level

Inspection level refers to the number of samples to check. They are


categorized into three (3), namely, level I, II & III. Different inspection levels
commands different numbers of samples to inspect. Level I entail checking
fewer samples, level II are in-between level I & III and are acceptable for
most importers, while Level III involves tightening up and checking more
samples.

The AQL limits

The AQL limits provide an upper limit to defective products. It is wise to set
a lower AQL for both major and minor defects if the customer accepts very
few defects.

AQL Tables

These tables are a set of statistical tools (charts) for product inspection that
allow users to easily determine the number of samples that are necessary
for testing and the number of allowable defective units based on a given
AQL.
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How Acceptable Quality Level (AQL) Works

Manufactured parts are often randomly tested according to some defined


sampling plans. If the number of defective items falls below the
predetermined amount, such a product will be said to meet the acceptable
quality level (AQL). If the acceptable quality level (AQL) is not reached for a
particular inspection exercise, a review of the various parameters in the
production process is conducted to determine the possible and root cause of
the defects for an appropriate corrective action.

For instance, say we are to conduct an AQL of 2% on a specific


manufacturing batch, meaning that no more than 2% of the batch should be
found with defects. If the batch is made up of say, 1,000 products, only 20
products can be defective. If more than 20 (e.g. 20.5) products are found
defective, the entire batch is scrapped.

It should be noted that AQL of products are not fixed, in that, they depend
on the type of industry. AQL of medical equipment manufacturers,
metallurgical, food production, electronics, pharmaceutical, automobiles
industries etc. are all different. They depend on the nature of the products
and their effect on their consumers. Hence, pharmaceutical products are
more likely to have more stringent AQL than say, metallurgical products,
because defective pharmaceutical products can result in severe health risks
to the vast majority.

Some factors being considered while setting up an acceptable quality limits


could include safety, business and financial implication of a products and
their associated defects.

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Courses on Quality Assurance/Quality Control, Lean Six Sigma, Lean
Manufacturing, Six Sigma, ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 22000, ISO 45001,
FSSC 22000, Product Development etc. on UDEMY.

Categories of AQL Defects

Defects are simply a fault, or anything that makes a product or service not
useful. Defects can be categorized into three:

Critical defects
Defects, when accepted could harm users. These defects cannot be accepted
because of the danger they pose. They are designated as 0% AQL.

Major defects

These too are not acceptable by the end-users, as they are likely to result in
failure when in use. Hence, they are termed ‘major’ with designated of AQL
of 2.5%.

Minor defects

These products differs from specified standard but are likely not going to
reduce the usability of the products , as they can still be ‘managed’ by the
users. The AQL for minor defects is 4%.

Click Here to Join the Over 800 Students Taking our Highly Rated
Courses on Quality Assurance/Quality Control, Lean Six Sigma, Lean
Manufacturing, Six Sigma, ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 22000, ISO 45001,
FSSC 22000, Product Development etc. on UDEMY.
About the Author

Adebayo is a thought leader in continuous process improvement and


manufacturing excellence. He is a Certified Six Sigma Master Black Belt
(CSSMBB), Digital Manufacturing Professional and ISO Management Systems
Lead Auditor (ISO 9001, 45001 & ISO 22000) with strong experience leading
various continuous improvement initiative in top manufacturing
organizations.

You can reach him here.

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