To decide if a lot is acceptable, you could inspect every unit of that lot (100% inspection). But in many situations this is not practically possible, especially when inspection is destructive. Then you would have no usable product left after inspection. With acceptance sampling, draw a sample from the lot and based on that sample decide whether the whole lot can be accepted or not. The sample size and the rules for acceptance or rejection are based on statistics. But also if inspection is not destructive, there are great advantages with acceptance sampling:
Of course, there are also some inherent disadvantages compared to 100% inspection:
The standards for acceptance sampling are designed to keep these risks at appropriate levels.
For acceptance sampling to be a valid option, some prerequisites apply:
IFS Applications supports:
The inspection level sets the relative amount of inspection. There are three general inspection levels, I, II and III. Unless otherwise specified, level II shall be used. I is used when less discrimination is required and III is used when greater discrimination is required. There are also four additional special levels, S-1, S-2, S-3 and S-4 which may be used when small sample sizes are necessary and larger sampling risks can be tolerated.
The AQL is expressed as percentage of nonconforming items. For a given AQL, the great majority of lots submitted will be accepted if the number of nonconforming items is not greater than the AQL.
If the number of nonconforming items in the sample is not greater than this value, the lot will be accepted.
If the number of nonconforming items in the sample is equal to or greater than this value, the lot will be rejected.
The number of items in the sample to be drawn from the lot. It will depend on the lot size, the inspection level and if single, double or multiple inspection is to be used.
With a single sampling plan only one sample is drawn, and acceptance is decided from the number of nonconforming items in that sample. With a double sampling plan, the sample size is smaller. But the number of nonconforming items may fall in between the acceptance and rejection numbers requiring a second sample to be drawn to decide on acceptance or rejection. With a multiple sampling plan, the sample size is even smaller, but up to five consecutive samples can be drawn to decide on acceptance or rejection.
When a lot is accepted, the switching score gets increased. When the switching score is at a certain level, it is possible to switch to the reduced inspection. The reduced inspection will be carried on as long as the lots are accepted. When in reduced inspection, any rejected lot will set the switching score back to zero.
| Sampling Plan | Ac | Switching Score |
| Single | 2 or more | Add 3 to the switching score if
the lot would have been accepted if the AQL had been one step tighter; otherwise reset the switching score to zero. |
| Single | 0 or 1 | Add 2 to the switching score if
the lot is accepted; otherwise reset the switching score to zero. |
| Double | All | Add 3 to the switching score if
the lot is accepted after the first sample; otherwise reset the switching score to zero. |
| Multiple | All | Add 3 to the switching score if
the lot is accepted by the third sample; otherwise reset the switching score to zero. |
| Inspection | Switching Rules |
| Reduced | If a lot is not accepted, or production is irregular, or other conditions warrant a switch, switch to Normal. |
| Normal | If current
value of switching score is at least 30, production is steady and approved
by the responsible authority, switch to Reduced. If 2 out of 5 or fewer consecutive lots are not accepted, switch to Tightened. |
| Tightened | If 5
consecutive lots are accepted, switch to Normal. If 5 lots are not accepted while on tightened inspection, switch to Discontinued. |
| Discontinued | If quality is improved, and approved by the responsible authority, switch to Tightened. |
The switching rules are used together with the results from preceding lots and the switching score to switch between normal, tightened and reduced inspection. Start at normal.
The number of lots that are needed for qualification will be used for determining the initial inspection frequency. The data from the most recent 20 or fewer lots will be used for qualification.
The qualification score is used not only for
qualification, but also for making decisions regarding a change in
frequency, interruption of the procedure, requalification and disqualification.
The rules given can be applied in
the same manner to each state.
| Sampling plan | Inspection | Ac | Qualification Score |
| Skip Lot -Single | Normal | 3 or more | If the lot would have been
accepted had the AQL been two steps tighter, add 5 to the qualification score; If the lot would have been accepted had the AQL been one step but not two steps tighter, add 3 to the qualification score; Otherwise reset the qualification score to zero. |
| Skip Lot -Single | Normal | 2 | If the lot is accepted with no
nonconforming item in the sample, add 5 to the qualification score; If the lot is accepted with one nonconforming item in the sample, add 3 to the qualification score; Otherwise reset the qualification score to zero. |
| Skip Lot -Single | Normal | 1 | If the
lot is accepted with no nonconforming item in the sample, add 5 to the
qualification score; If the lot is accepted with one nonconforming item in the sample, add 1 to the qualification score; Otherwise reset the qualification score to zero. |
| Skip Lot -Single | Normal | 0 | If the lot is
accepted, add 3 to the qualification score; Otherwise reset the qualification score to zero. (only applicable during qualification period) |
| Skip Lot -Single/Double | Reduced | Note: 5 for normal inspection can be replaced by 3 for reduced inspection 3 for normal inspection can be replaced by 1 for reduced inspection |
|
| Skip Lot -Double | Normal | 1 or more | If the lot would
have been accepted after the first sample if the AQL had been one step
tighter, add 5 to the qualification score; If the lot is accepted after the first sample but would not have been accepted if the AQL had been one step tighter, add 3 to the qualification score; Otherwise reset the qualification score to zero. |
| Skip Lot -Double | Normal | 0 | If the lot would
have been accepted after the first sample if the AQL had been one step
tighter, add 5 to the qualification score; If the lot is accepted after the first sample but would not have been accepted if the AQL had been one step tighter, add 3 to the qualification score; Otherwise reset the qualification score to zero. |
If any of the following occurs, the qualification
score is reset to zero:
| Event | State 1 - Lot By Lot | State 2 - Skip-Lot | State 3 - Skip-Lot Interruption |
| 10 or more consecutive lots accepted, and the qualification score reaches or exceeds 50 within the last 20 consecutive lots. | Switch to state 2 - Skip-Lot and set initial inspection frequency (see Inspection Frequency). | Switch to next lower inspection frequency (see Inspection Frequency) | |
|
Lot is not accepted, or lot is accepted and the qualification score is reset to zero (see Qualification Score). |
Switch to state 3 - Skip-Lot Interruption | Product is disqualified for Skip-Lot Inspection. Switching rules for Lot-By-Lot inspection apply. | |
|
Requalification: 4 to 6 consecutive lots accepted and the qualification score reaches or exceeds 18 within 6 lots.
|
Switch back to state 2 - Skip-Lot and switch to next higher inspection frequency | ||
|
Requalification is not achieved
within 6 lots.
|
Product is disqualified for Skip-Lot inspection. Switching rules for Lot-By-Lot inspection apply. |
Prerequisites:
| Step | Result |
| Find Sample Size Code Letter | Sample size code letter is K according to table 1. |
| Find Sample Size | Sample size is 125 for code letter K in the master table for single sampling plans for normal inspection (2-A). |
| Find Acceptance Number (Ac) and Rejection Number (Re) | Ac is 2 and Re is 3 for AQL 0.65 and sample size code letter K in table 2-A. |
| Inspect | A sample of 125 units is taken. 1 nonconforming unit is found. |
| Accept or reject | 1 is lower than the Ac 2 so the lot is accepted. |
| Calculate switching score | Ac is 2 or more, and if AQL had been 0.40, which is one step tighter, the Ac had been 1 and the lot would still have been accepted. So 3 is added to the switching score. |
| Decide on inspection | This is the first lot, so switching score is now 3. At least 30 is needed for Reduced inspection, so inspection is kept at Normal. |
Tables for sample size code letters, as well as single sampling plans for normal, tightened and reduced inspection are stored within the system and are used when creating an analysis using acceptance sampling. However, they are read-only and not visible.
Acceptance sampling can be used with purchasing and manufacturing control plans. Acceptance sampling cannot be used with production schedules. Inspection level and AQL are set on the control plan. If you use control plan template, you can set these values on the template and then apply the template to parts on creating the control plans. On the data point, a system-defined inspection code will determine whether the acceptance sampling is to be used.
The acceptance sampling standards only apply to lot sizes larger than 1. This means that you cannot perform receipts with lot size 1 with an acceptance sampling control plan. If you still need to do that, you must switch temporarily to another control plan. On a shop order with lot size 1, you may exclude the acceptance sampling data points.
When acceptance sampling is used, an analysis for acceptance sampling data points will be created at receipt for purchase orders, and at start of shop order. The sample size and acceptance and rejection numbers will be determined by the system when the analysis is created. When the analysis is confirmed, the analysis result will be used by the system to calculate the switching score and to decide if inspection is going to be normal, tightened or reduced the next time an analysis is created.
When the analysis is confirmed, the acceptance status will be rejected if any of the acceptance sampling data points are rejected. However, the system does not decide what to do with the rejected lot. It may be received into inventory, scrapped or sent for rework.
Initially should start at Normal inspection, but before activating the control plan should select another start value. The switching score is calculated and the switching rules are evaluated when an analysis is confirmed. If inspection has been set to Discontinued, and need to reinstate acceptance sampling at Tightened inspection, it is necessary to create a new control plan revision. If a product has been disqualified for skip-lot inspection, it means that lot-by-lot inspection is carried out, and the switching rules for lot-by-lot inspection apply.