AQI Footwear Inspection Service
Footwear is more complex than before due to the rising expectations and demands of consumers, it requires different production process and a wide range of materials, this makes footwear inspection and testing a highly specialized process.
AQI Service offers quality inspection services and lab testing services for all kinds of footwear, we will verify your footwear for compliance with relevant standards applicable to your products destination, these include CPSIA, REACH, Prop 65, and other standards.
That’s easy for you to search for different types of footwear or shoes in the market, and these different types of footwear including below but not all listed:
- Womens Footwear
- School Shoes
- Lacrosse Shoes
- Tennis Sport Shoes
- Equestrian Footwear
- Snow Boat
- Sandals
- Baseball & Softball Shoes
- Running Shoe
- Basketball Shoes
- Water Shoe
- Slippers
- Dress Shoes
- Dress Sandal
- Fashion Boot
- Ankle Booties
Footwear Quality Control Approach
AQI Service technical team work closely with your team to create a specific inspection checklist for your products, and our inspector will verify the quality of mass production based on your Acceptable Quality Limites (AQL), perform product function and safety tests, and assess compliance with your products specifications and authorized samples.
Some tests should be tested in the lab to ensure compliance with safety standards and regulatory requirements, inspectors will select the lot samples and forward to an accredited laboratory for testing.
Your products workmanship is carefully examined, and defects are classified into subcategories to highlight the key improvement areas for production.
We are your eyes in manufacturing and quality control.
How to Create Inspection Checklist for Footwear?
AQI Service provides inspection services for footwear and shoes at every stage: from supplier investigation, audit to the quality control, and final delivery of shipments during the process.
AQI’s quality experts understand the customer’s requirements, ensure that on-site inspections are properly performed on-site, and finalize clear reports to explain and explain all details.
Throughout the quality control process, we will verify the appearance quality, specifications, functions, reliability of your products.
Here are the typical quality defects usually happed on these products:
a. Packing and Marking Check
Check the packing and packages conform to the clients requirements or not?
b. Materials:
Compare with a golden sample including material/color of the fabric, accessories, hangtag/labels, packing, logo/markings, washing effect
c. Structure:
Is bonding quality strong enough? if the gluing quality meets the specification or not?
d. Workmanship:
How is the workmanship? good for sale in-store or online?
e. On-site Test:
Verify the function, fitting and reliability.
f. Measurements:
If the checked results conform to the client’s specification and tolerance
Why is it important to Arrange Footwear Inspection?
- Identify any issues in product size/specification to save cost and time
- Reduce defects/flaws in the product and maintain a good brand image of the product
- Save on possible rework and product recall costs
- Confirm that the products will not be damaged during packaging and loading
How to Inspect Shoes / Footwear?
Before conducting inspections, AQI technical engineers need to understand your product characteristics to determine key risks. By combining our Footwear Inspection Checklist with your unique product specifications and quality requirements, each inspection can be customized.
We will identify and classify defects based on your Acceptance Quality Limits (AQL), verify the quality of mass production, perform product function and reliability tests on-site, and assess your compliance with product specifications and sizes.
Assess the quality of your product materials and workmanship, using a number of quality control checks and tests, including:
- Flexing check / Bond Testing
- Smell check
- Barcode readability check
- Waterproof test
- Fatigue test
- Seam strength test
- Rub checking
- 3M-Tape Checking
- Carton Assortment Checking
- Symmetry check between pairs
- Carton Drop Checking
- Density of stitches check
- Fitting test
- Color shade test
- Inside stuffing check
- Stitches per inch check
Other tests on footwear performed in the laboratory including ISO 17708-2003, ISO 22650, ISO17226-1, BS EN 17234, BS EN 14362, ASTM F2853-10, ASTM F2913 Slip resistance, etc.
Our inspector can help the client to draw samples to our partner accredited laboratory for testing, we can also forward the shipping samples while During-Production Inspection or Pre-shipment Inspection.
Normally the testing will take around 3-7 days to get the test report, we recommend a selection of test applicable to safety risks and compliance, any questions please contact AQI Service.
Common Quality Defects in Footwear
In the realm of product quality, several typical defects can negatively impact the overall customer experience.
These include sharp points or edges on accessories, unsightly stains, loose studs, buttons, or rivets on trim, and excessive or insufficient glue application.
Other frequent issues are shoelaces of incorrect lengths, poor stitching, malfunctioning accessories, needle holes, untrimmed threads, loop stitches, the presence of foreign insects, and open seams.
Identifying and addressing these defects is crucial for maintaining product integrity and customer satisfaction.
- Any sharp point/sharp edge on accessories?
- Loose stud / button / rivet on trim
- Shoelace too short to too long
- Poor stitching
- Malfunction accessory
- Needle hole
- Dirty stain
- Untrimmed thread
- Glue
- Loop stitches
- Foreign insect
- Open seam
- Mildew
Quality Control Standards for Footwears & Shoes
AQI Service adheres only to the most relevant and current international standards in coming up with footwear inspection and quality control procedures used in its operations.
Below are some of the most common standards for footwear quality control and inspection procedures:
ISO 17708-2003
ISO 17708:2003 describes a test method for the determination of the resistance to separation of the upper from the outsole or the resistance to separation of adjacent layers of the outsole or resistance to tear failure of the upper or the sole. It also defines conditions of ageing that can be used for production control.
It applies to all types of footwear (produced by cementing, vulcanization, injection moulding, etc.) for which evaluation of adhesion of the sole to the upper is needed and where the upper is continuously assembled (closed shoes).
ISO 22650
ISO 22650:2018 specifies a method for the determination of the heel attachment of footwear. It applies to woman’s medium and high heeled footwear.
ISO17226-1
The document specifies a method for the determination of free and released formaldehyde in leathers. This method, based on high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), is selective and not sensitive to coloured extracts and is intended to be used for precise quantification of formaldehyde.
The formaldehyde content is taken to be the quantity of free formaldehyde and formaldehyde extracted through hydrolysis contained in a wSaveater extract from the leather under standard conditions of use.
BS EN ISO 17234-1:2020
This document specifies a method for determining the use of certain azo colourants which can release certain aromatic amines.
BS EN 14362
ISO 14362-1:2017 describes a method to detect the use of certain azo colorants that may not be used in the manufacture or treatment of certain commodities made of textile fibres and that are accessible to reducing agent with and without extraction.
ASTM F2853-10
This test method may be used for quantitative determinations of Pb in painted and unpainted articles such as toys, children’s products, and other consumer products. Typical test time for quantification of Pb in homogenous samples is 1 to 3 min; and typical test time for quantification of Pb in paint is 4 to 8 min.
ASTM F2913
This non-proprietary laboratory test method allows for the reproducible testing of whole footwear and footwear-related soling materials for evaluating relative slip performance. Other ASTM test methods generally employ a standardized test foot primarily for evaluation of flooring materials.
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