What is component testing?

Component testing is quality assurance testing that’s conducted on an individual component of your product, prior to final assembly of a product.

Why implement?

Don’t want to build the same thing twice? Component testing can save you time and money by identifying any defects or issues within the individual components of your product, before those components are assembled into a final product.

• Avoid product rework by validating components before they are fabricated into final consumer goods
• Save time by identifying issues early in the supply chain
• Save money by avoiding rework of final products
• Eliminate duplication of testing across multiple final products that share components

What types of tests work well for component testing?

Examples include:

• Material quality tests, such as content analysis or material strength testing
• Testing for banned substances such as lead, cadmium, phthalates, or flame retardants
• Environmental exposure tests such as humidity, salt corrosion or extreme temperature testing

Are there test types for which component testing is not a good fit?

• Functional Use Testing, or any type of test that validates the functionality of the end product
• Impact or drop testing, to validate whether a product holds its integrity after being impacted or dropped
• Any testing that validates the safety of an electrical system

Snowmelt can help you communicate Quality Assurance requirements to stakeholders at the top of your supply chain. Get started today and download the app.

Are your profit margins hampered by product returns and complaints? Mitigate some of the costs associated with product returns by implementing a basic quality assurance plan with your suppliers.

When building a quality assurance plan, it’s important to start with high level product goals, and then drill your way down to how those goals translate into specific and testable requirements.

You may have product goals that encompass higher level values like sustainability, durability, or ease of use. The trick is to figure out what these values mean in the context of your product, and create a specific test plan that reflects those values.

Some questions you might ask in order to build durability into a product:

1. Who is the product intended for? Age group, region, market, etc.
2. What type of usage constitutes intended use of the product? This would be usage of the product within the scope of normal, expected use.
3. What constitutes foreseeable use or misuse of the product? This would be usage of the product that may fall outside basic functionality, but could be within the realm of functionality for the end user.
4. What are the environments in which this product can be used? Think indoor, outdoor, wet environments, extreme hot or cold conditions, etc.
5. Are there mechanical such as hinges, springs, latches, that the end consumer would expect to be durable for the entirety of the product life cycle?

Here’s an example of how determining the intended use of a product could be applied towards creating a test plan to help ensure the durability of a piece of oven-safe glassware:

The intended use for this piece of glassware includes cooking a wide range of food items in an oven, allowing the glassware to heat up and cool down at a rate consistent with normal oven use.

Based on the intended use, a test plan might look like this:

• Place the test sample in an oven preheated to 500 deg. F for 3 hours
• After 3 hours, remove sample from the oven and allow to cool to room temperature
• After cooling, there shouldn’t be any visual evidence of breakage, pitting, darkening, or loss of functionality.

This method can be modified by different variables such as cooking different types of food or filling with water before placing it in the oven. You can also cycle the test so that you’re allowing the product to undergo repeated use. And you can drop the test sample immediately after removing it from the oven, or submerge it directly into water to mimic thermal shock. All of these variables could potentially reveal different weaknesses in the glass, and help you get a better understanding of the limits of the product’s durability.

Once your test plan reflects your product values and the needs of your customer base, the next step is to ensure that your suppliers are implementing your test plan on each production lot. It’s important to communicate your product requirements up stream.

Communicate your QA requirements to your suppliers with Snowmelt. Download Snowmelt.

In the world of quality assurance, it’s common for terms to get thrown around and overlap. After all, product requirements can be extremely complex. Here we’ll talk about the difference between Product Testing, Product Inspection, and Certification.

Quality assurance programs are developed to help ensure that products get to market on time and within a required specification. Checking a product to make sure it’s safe, it works, and it’s compliant with federal requirements, seems like a pretty simple concept. But the methods by which this is accomplished can often prove to be more complex. There are multiple decision points when establishing a QA program, such as:

1. Determining at which point in the supply chain an action should occur

2. Whether to rely on the factory, or hire a third party testing lab, to conduct testing activities

3. Understanding the regulatory and import requirements for your distribution region

At the core of any QA program, there are only a handful of types of actions that occur to help ensure a quality product, including, on-site inspection of goods, product testing, factory assessments, and certification.

Here’s a brief overview of each:

Product inspections are generally done either in-line by a factory worker or by a third party inspector who is contracted to inspect a specific lot of goods either during or after production. Inspections employ a statistical concept called an Acceptable Quality Limit (AQL). This allows for a certain number of defective units to be found within a lot. Inspections usually entail a quick review of the product, checking for basic functionality as well as any immediately visible visual defects. Inspectors may also employ hand held tools to gather information on the product (think tools that an inspector can easily carry into a factory like a moisture meter, measurement tools, etc.). The idea is to approve a specific lot of goods at a very high level.

Product Testing can be conducted either on-site, usually in a separately designated area of a factory or at a third party testing facility. This type of testing is more involved than a product inspection because it requires additional test fixtures or equipment. Testing also tends to be more expensive to conduct versus a product inspection and therefore is conducted on a very small number of units in a production lot.

Examples of this type of test include:

• Checking materials for heavy metals or other toxic chemicals

• Flammability testing

• Applying a test load to a product (like a chair or a media stand) to ensure it can hold a specific amount of weight.

Federal requirements usually include some type of product testing and most retailers require some level of third party lab testing to be completed prior to selling a product. This is especially true of private label products.

Factory Assessments usually come in two flavors – Factory Preparedness Audits and Social Audits. These activities are not audits on specific products, but rather checks to make sure the factory itself is adequately prepared to manufacture your product.

Factory Preparedness Audits usually occur prior to the beginning of production, when a buyer needs to verify whether a supplier can manufacture the goods they say they can. This type of audit usually includes an independent review of production capabilities to ensure that a factory has documentation and systems in place to ensure good manufacturing practices.

Social Audits have recently become more prominent as cultural awareness around global employment practices has become more critical to brands and the customers they serve. These types of audits include a safety audit of the facility to make sure that it’s a safe place for workers, and also employee interviews and documentation audits, to ensure that fair wage practices are implemented, and in general that workers are treated fairly and labor laws are obeyed (child labor, work shift limits, etc.)

Through smart application of these QA activities, you can help ensure that your product is safe, compliant, and meets the customer’s needs when it comes to market.

Snowmelt can help you communicate your QA needs to your suppliers prior to production. Download Snowmelt today.

For products on the market that need to meet rigorous safety standards, Product Certification is often recommended and in certain cases is required, depending on the distribution region of the product. Certification is recommended for products that fall into market categories in which product failure could be potentially dangerous, such as electrical products, food and beverage, and industrial equipment.

Product Certification processes are carried out by third party certification bodies. These organizations employ a mixture of quality assurance testing, factory assessments, and other forms of documentation review to compile an overall view into the supply chain, materials, assembly, and functionality of a product to determine whether it can be certified. Once the decision to certify a product is made, there’s a period of time where this product is validated. The certifying body will generally perform basic checks on the product at a certain interval to make sure that it still meets the requirements.

While the process can add time and expense to getting a product to market, it’s often worth it even when it’s not required by law. Once a product is certified, it allows the manufacturer to mark the product, it’s marketing materials, and it’s packaging with the certification mark. You’ll notice a UL marking on most electrical products, for instance. This marking denotes that the product has been certified to the appropriate UL standard. The same goes for the CE marking in products sold in the European Union.

Having this marking on your product gives potential customers an additional level of trust that an objective third party has signed off on the safety and quality of the product.

Snowmelt can help you communicate your product certification requirements up front, which in turn can help them to provide a better picture of cost of goods, before going into production. Download Snowmelt today.