I’m launching my very first product project with the help of a sourcing agent who includes a quality check as part of her service fee. While I already have confidence in her sourcing abilities, I remain uncertain about trusting her for a detailed inspection of the product. Should I take a chance on her inspection service, or would it be wiser to engage a separate, reputable inspection expert? I’d appreciate any thoughts or advice on making the best decision.
Hey there, I totally get your dilemma. I mean, it’s great that you trust her sourcing skills, but quality inspection is a whole other ball game, right? I wonder if you might consider how thorough her inspections really are compared to a specialist whose sole focus is catching defects and ensuring compliance. Sometimes, a second opinion can catch that detail you might not think about initially. How big is your order anyway, and have you scoped out the extra cost versus the risk of overlooking some quality issues? It might also be useful to ask for a sample report of her past inspections to see if it aligns with what a dedicated quality expert would do. What are your thoughts on possibly testing her process on a smaller batch first? It’d be cool to hear if anyone has tried this kind of approach!
Based on my own experience working on similar projects, I believe that even if you trust your sourcing agent’s ability to secure suppliers, the expertise required for a thorough quality inspection is often better provided by a specialist. In my case, relying solely on the agent for both sourcing and inspection resulted in missing a minor defect that later grew into a much more serious issue. Engaging an independent quality inspector allowed for an objective assessment and detailed insights into product compliance and tolerances. The incremental cost can be justified by the added assurance and potential device savings in rectifying issues before mass production begins.