What is Pre Production Inspection (PPI)?
It is practical and crucial to inspect raw material, production components, production process. And QC processes prior to starting the production. Pre Production Inspection is done in order to trace quality issues. So that they can resolve timely before the bulk of production starts.
Locating the faults and their removal is necessary otherwise the whole production can go wasted. The Third Party Inspection team visits the production site before or during the production phase. In order to find out any possible flaws to save time and money for both the supplier and buyer.
The in house quality control department of the supplier also takes care of Pre-Production Inspection or PPI. Almost every product needs a PPI because every time raw material is bought for that product is new. And probably recently delivered or produced. PPI is a needed when a buyer is going to buy an order for the first time from a supplier. Or the supplier is new in the production process of a particular product. It helps to catch problems early on.
Phases of PPI
Usually, PPI is proceeded by following steps for inspecting any kind of production.
Site visiting
The QC inspector has to visit the production site before the production is start or when production has just started.
Inspecting
After reaching the site, the inspector inspects the raw material, production components, process, plant and equipment and team. Quality inspector here checks components and material for defaults. Keenly observes whether the plant has the capacity to produce the ordered products. And judges the production team for their relevant training and experiences. They are also looking for in house QC issues that may cause problems in the future
Sample testing
When some products are semi-finished. They are randomly picked off the line and observed whether they have all features ordered. By the buyer like durability, color, design, material, pattern etc. Or they lack the ordered capacities even at the semi-finished stage. The results of these random samples are generalized to the whole production. It helps to paint the picture of what the product would look like. At the finished stage and what QC issues it might have
Photos
The quality inspector captures photos of each inspection phase to display all defects and issues he spots. These photos are used in the inspection report.
Report Generation
Quality inspector prepares a detailed report on what he inspected. And what he found during the inspection of the production plant, process, defects and material. This report includes the details of what errors are found. How they can be improved upon and what could be the steps to avoid these errors in future. The inspector also attaches photos he took during the inspection with his inspection report.
Benefits of Pre Production Inspection
Pre-Production Inspection brings benefits to the supplier by saving the money. That could have gone wasted if faulty products were produced without checking defects beforehand. Incorrect production can bring loss of material. And money to the supplier, moreover, the time spent on production cannot be reversed in any case. It helps importers catch issues early on and save time.
The buyer would have to reject the order. If the products don’t have all the features that were ordered by the buyer. The returned or rejected orders are then either produced again or are sold at cheaper rates somewhere else. This makes suppliers and buyers suffer a lot. In some critical cases or bulk orders. The buyers can sue the suppliers for their miss-commitments which is a financial. And legal setback to the repute of supplier. PPI also ensures that products are produced exactly by following the local and international quality standards.
PPI also lets the supplier know how much he can produce and how much time, money, material, equipment, and workforce etc. He will require to produce different quantities of same products. This makes a supplier efficient in future decision making. Because he can calculate his potential costs and profits easily by having a standard inspection report. PPI sounds like a small step in the production process. That is why it is often ignored when in reality this makes a huge difference. In terms of cost and time for buyers and suppliers alike.
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