AQL Acceptance Sampling for Electronics Inspection
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Acceptance sampling is how you decide pass/fail on a production lot without inspecting every unit, and the standard for it is ANSI/ASQ Z1.4 (the AQL tables). You pick an Acceptable Quality Limit per defect class — commonly 0 for critical, 2.5 for major, 4.0 for minor — and the table tells you how many to sample and how many defects trip a rejection. The pitfall is treating AQL as a quality guarantee: it's a statistical filter, so a lot can pass sampling and still contain defects below the threshold.
When you set acceptance criteria, you're agreeing in advance what defect rate you'll tolerate per class. We define those AQL levels in the inspection spec up front, so a factory can't argue pass/fail after the fact.
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FAQ
What AQL levels are normal for electronics?
A common setup is 0 critical / 2.5 major / 4.0 minor under ANSI/ASQ Z1.4. Tighter levels mean larger samples and higher inspection cost, so match the AQL to how the product is used.
Does passing AQL inspection mean zero defects?
No. AQL is a sampling-based statistical filter — a lot can pass and still contain some defects within the accepted limit. For zero-tolerance items, you need 100% inspection or screening, not sampling.
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