Incoming inspection process flowchart (goods-in quality)
Incoming inspection process flowchart for purchased material: goods-in hold, certificate checks, risk-based sampling, lab testing, concession and rejection.
How it works
Rename the lanes to your roles
Replace Goods-in, QC inspector, QC lab, Purchasing and Supplier with the roles that genuinely exist. If testing is subcontracted, that lane is an external laboratory with a turnaround time worth stating. If one person receives and inspects, merge those lanes rather than drawing a handover that never happens.
Attach the inspection plan to the sampling step
For each part or material group, record the characteristics inspected, the method and gauge, the sample size, the accept and reject criteria, and the specification revision in force. State plainly where you inspect every unit instead of sampling, and where you rely on the supplier's own test data.
Write the supplier risk rule that changes the sample size
Decide what puts a supplier on reduced, normal or tightened inspection — new supplier, new part, an open nonconformance, safety-critical characteristic — and, just as important, what brings them back. Attribute sampling standards such as ISO 2859-1 and ANSI/ASQ Z1.4 define switching between normal, tightened and reduced inspection from recent lot history; if you do not use one, write your own trigger down so tightened inspection does not become permanent by default.
Say which materials need a certificate, and what makes one valid
List the material groups that require documentation and the type required. For metallic products EN 10204 distinguishes a 2.1 declaration of compliance with the order, a 2.2 test report, and 3.1 and 3.2 inspection certificates based on specific inspection; chemicals and consumables normally arrive with a certificate of analysis. Whichever applies, a valid certificate carries the batch, lot or heat numbers actually delivered and the specification revision named on the purchase order.
Name the concession authority and its limits
Record who may authorise use-as-is material, up to what risk or value, and when the customer has to be told because the requirement affected is theirs. Make it explicit that a concession covers one batch and one deviation, and that it is recorded with the quantity, the reason and the name of the person who authorised it.
Decide what the supplier record captures and where it is reviewed
Pick the fields that make inspection results useful later — conformance rate, nonconformance count, response time to a report, cost of sorting or rework — and name the supplier review meeting that looks at them. That is the forum where a risk level changes, re-approval is triggered or a recurring problem becomes a corrective action, and without it the record is only filed.
Frequently asked questions
What is the incoming inspection process?
It is the quality verification applied to purchased material before it can be used. The delivery goes to inspection hold, the quality documents are checked against the purchase order line, and a certificate is verified against the delivered batch where one is required. A sample is then drawn to the inspection plan and the supplier's risk level, checked visually and dimensionally, and tested in the laboratory where the characteristic cannot be judged by eye. If the material conforms it is accepted and released to stores. If it does not, it is quarantined and reported to the supplier, and someone decides between accepting it under an authorised concession and returning it for replacement. Either way, the result updates the supplier performance record before the inspection record is closed.
What is the difference between incoming inspection and goods receiving?
Goods receiving is a logistics and commercial transaction: unload, count, check for transit damage, match the delivery to the purchase order and raise the goods receipt note so the invoice can be matched. Incoming inspection is a quality decision about whether the material meets its specification. Between the two the material should sit on inspection hold — booked in, visible in the system, but not available to pick. Where the two are run as one step, receipted stock becomes usable stock the moment the paperwork clears, and uninspected material reaches the line.
Does every delivery need a certificate of analysis?
No. The requirement comes from the material and from what the purchase order asked for, so most organisations define it per material group rather than per delivery. Certificates of analysis are normal for chemicals, raw materials and regulated consumables; for metallic products EN 10204 sets out the document types, from a 2.1 declaration of compliance with the order and a 2.2 test report through to 3.1 and 3.2 inspection certificates based on specific inspection. Many purchased parts need only a certificate of conformity, or nothing at all. What matters is that receiving a certificate is not the same as verifying one: it should carry the batch, lot or heat numbers actually delivered and the specification revision named on the order, and someone should be named as having checked that it does.
How much of a delivery should be inspected?
Enough for the risk, decided in advance rather than at the dock. Attribute sampling standards such as ISO 2859-1 and ANSI/ASQ Z1.4 give a sample size from the lot size, an inspection level and an acceptable quality limit, and define how a supplier moves between normal, tightened and reduced inspection as their recent record changes. Well-performing approved suppliers can move to reduced or skip-lot verification provided the rule that re-tightens them is written down. Safety-critical or non-recoverable characteristics may justify inspecting every unit. Sampling gives confidence about a lot rather than a guarantee about every item in it, and it is worth saying so in the procedure so the limits of the check are understood.
What happens when incoming material fails inspection?
Quarantine first, paperwork second: the material is segregated physically and its status changed in the system so it cannot be picked, then a nonconformance report goes to the supplier with the part number, batch, purchase order, quantity affected, the requirement, the actual condition and the evidence. Disposition follows. Returning the material puts purchasing in charge of the return and the replacement, which re-enters this process as a new delivery. Accepting it as it stands is a concession, and it needs an authorised, recorded decision covering one batch. ISO 9001:2015 clause 8.7 deals with control of nonconforming outputs and expects the nonconformity, the action taken, any concession obtained and the authority that decided it to be documented, with the customer informed where the requirement affected is theirs. In both cases the supplier responds to the report and the outcome is recorded against their performance.