AQL (Acceptable Quality Limit) is a widely used statistical sampling method employed by the clothing manufacturers around the world and garment industry as a whole to inspect and assess the quality of products during the production process. AQL inspection systems, such as AQL 1.5 and AQL 2.5, define specific quality standards and criteria that must be met for a batch of garments to be considered acceptable for shipment.
AQL 1.5 and AQL 2.5 refer to different acceptable defect levels allowed in the inspected garments. These levels are expressed as a percentage or ratio of defects in a sample size. Here’s a breakdown of what each level represents:
- AQL 1.5: This means that the maximum acceptable defect rate is 1.5%. In other words, if the inspected batch of garments has a defect rate higher than 1.5%, it would be considered unacceptable, and the batch may require further inspection or corrective measures before being shipped to customers.
- AQL 2.5: This indicates a slightly higher acceptable defect rate of 2.5%. Similar to AQL 1.5, if the defect rate in the sample exceeds 2.5%, the batch may be deemed unsatisfactory and may require additional inspection or rectification.
In both cases, the AQL inspection system involves randomly selecting a representative sample from the production batch and evaluating the garments based on predefined quality criteria. The size of the sample and the number of samples taken depend on the batch size and other factors, following established statistical guidelines.
AQL inspection helps manufacturers and buyers monitor and control the quality of their products, detect potential issues, and ensure that the garments meet the specified quality standards. The AQL levels (such as AQL 1.5 and AQL 2.5) provide a benchmark for quality control, allowing for consistency and uniformity in assessing garment quality throughout the industry.
To clearly understand what is aql 1.5 or aql 2.5 in the garment industry, here is an example of an AQL 2.5 Inspection Report that was done for a popular children’s wear brand. You can see that this batch of clothing production as failed to achieve the desired level of AQL 2.5.
