The sample was perfect. The container is not. Somewhere between the sample room and the packing line, the glove changed — a lighter coating, a shorter cuff, a shade that no longer matches the approved swatch.
AQL inspection exists to catch that gap before the goods leave, not after they arrive. For a buyer, the value is not the inspection report itself. It is the acceptance criteria agreed in writing before production starts.
What AQL actually is
AQL — Acceptable Quality Limit — is a sampling method defined in ISO 2859-1. Rather than inspecting every pair, you draw a defined sample from the lot, count defects, and compare the count against a limit that corresponds to an agreed quality level.
Two settings decide how strict the inspection is:
- Inspection level — how many units are drawn from the lot. General level II is the usual default for consumer and industrial goods.
- AQL value — the defect rate that is still considered acceptable, set separately for major and minor defects.
The output is simple: lot accepted, or lot rejected.
Classifying defects for gloves
The AQL value means nothing until the defects are defined. Three classes are standard:
Critical defects — a safety or legal problem. A glove sold with a cut claim that does not meet the claimed level; a glove with a chemical permeation claim and no valid test report; contamination with sharps or glass; a glove that fails to meet a mandatory marking requirement. Critical defects usually carry an AQL of zero — one occurrence rejects the lot.
Major defects — the glove will not perform or will not sell. Coating separation at the cuff or knuckle, holes or thin spots in the coating, missing coating on the working area, wrong size marked, wrong colour against the approved swatch, seam failure, cuff elastic that does not recover, missing or wrong marking, wrong packaging configuration.
Minor defects — appearance issues that do not affect function. Loose threads, minor shade variation within the approved tolerance, print position slightly off-centre, a slightly crooked label.
For most coated glove shipments, buyers set major defects at a stricter level than minor defects — commonly around 2.5 for major and 4.0 for minor, with critical at zero. The exact numbers are your decision; what matters is that they are written into the purchase order.
What to inspect on a glove pre-shipment check
A generic factory audit checklist does not cover gloves. The inspection should include:
Specification match
- Model code on carton and inner bag matches the approved specification
- Liner material and gauge as specified
- Coating type, finish and colour against the approved swatch
- Coating weight or palm thickness within tolerance (weigh a sample of pairs)
- Length and palm width per size within tolerance
Workmanship
- Coating adhesion — bend test at the knuckle, edge lift at the cuff
- Holes, thin spots and coating misses, checked by inflation or by holding against light
- Seam integrity and stitch density
- Cuff elasticity and cuff length
- Loose threads and liner pulls
Marking and compliance
- EN 388 pictogram and performance levels printed on the glove or the packaging as specified
- CE marking present and correct
- Size marking legible on every pair
- Batch or lot code traceable to the production record
Packaging
- Pairs per polybag, bags per carton, carton dimensions and weight
- Carton printing, barcode and shipping marks correct
- Carton compression strength adequate for the stacking plan
- Inner packing consistent across the lot
Quantity and documentation
- Carton count against the packing list
- Test reports for this model on file and matching the shipped batch
- Certificate of origin, commercial invoice and packing list consistent with the order
Where inspections usually fail
In practice, most rejections are not about the glove at all:
- Carton count short — the cheapest and most common problem
- Colour drift between the approved swatch and the bulk, usually from a different compound batch
- Size curve mismatch — the total quantity is right, the distribution is not
- Missing marking on a portion of the lot — printing skipped on a shift
- Packaging substitution — a different polybag thickness or carton grade
None of these require a lab. All of them require someone to open cartons and count.
How to write acceptance criteria
Before production, put this in the purchase order:
- The approved sample reference and the date of approval
- The specification sheet, including grams per pair and coating weight
- AQL values: critical / major / minor, with the defect definitions attached
- Inspection level and the point of inspection — during production, pre-shipment, or both
- Who inspects: your own QC, a third-party inspector, or the factory with photo evidence
- What happens on rejection: rework, replacement, price adjustment, or cancellation
- Who bears the cost of a failed inspection and the re-inspection
Point 6 is the one buyers forget, and it is the one that decides whether an inspection has any force.
Third-party inspection: when it is worth it
For a first order, or a new specification, a third-party pre-shipment inspection is inexpensive relative to the cost of a wrong container. For repeat orders of a stable specification, factory self-inspection with photo evidence per carton is usually enough — provided the acceptance criteria are already written.
Frequently asked questions
What AQL should I use for work gloves? Most buyers use stricter limits for major defects than minor defects, with critical defects at zero. The specific values depend on your end customer; what matters is that they are agreed before production, not after a dispute.
Who pays for the inspection? Usually the buyer pays the third-party inspector and the supplier bears the cost of rework and re-inspection. Make this explicit in the purchase order.
Can AQL guarantee no defective gloves? No. AQL is a sampling method — it controls the risk of accepting a bad lot, it does not certify every pair. For safety-critical claims, add model-level testing rather than relying on visual inspection.
Should the inspection be pre-shipment or during production? Both, for a new specification. A during-production check catches a systematic error while it is still cheap to fix; the pre-shipment check confirms what is actually going into the container.
Related: what the documents actually cover — the test reports and certificates that should accompany a glove shipment.