The report says fail. The container is booked, the customer is waiting, and the factory insists the problems are minor. What happens in the next three days decides how much you lose. Buyers have four basic options: accept the lot as it is, negotiate a discount, reject it, or have the defective units removed and fixed through product sorting and rework. The last is often the fastest way to save a shipment, but only if it is run with control.
Sorting means checking every unit in the lot, not a sample, and separating good from bad. Rework means repairing the bad ones and putting them back through inspection. They are different jobs and can be done separately. A lot with a cosmetic defect on one unit in twelve needs sorting. A lot with a loose screw in every unit needs rework on all of them.
Start by defining exactly what is wrong. A written defect list with photos of each problem, and a limit sample showing the worst acceptable condition, prevents arguments at the sorting table. Sorters who are told to ‘remove the bad ones’ will apply their own standard, and that standard shifts through the day.
Decide where the work happens. Sorting at the factory is quickest, because the goods are already there, though it needs supervision by someone who answers to you and not to the factory. A third-party team can also work inside the plant, or the goods can be moved to a separate warehouse. Many Chinese factories can supply labour, but the quality of sorting depends on who watches it.
A controlled process has a few fixed elements. The lot is moved into a marked area. Cartons are opened and units checked one by one, with good and bad units going into separate labelled containers. A tally sheet records the count of each defect type per hour or per carton. Totals at the end should reconcile with the starting quantity, and any difference needs an explanation.
Rework needs an approved method. Re-gluing a part with the wrong adhesive, or re-soldering a joint at the wrong temperature, can create a worse defect than the original. Ask the factory to submit a rework procedure and show one corrected unit before starting on the whole batch. After rework, units go back through the same checks as the original, and a larger sample is normal because the lot has already shown a problem.
Traceability stops the same defects coming back. Reworked cartons should carry a distinct sticker or label, and shipping marks must still match the documents. A well-known trick in a failed-lot situation is to swap defective units for units pulled from another customer’s order. Counting cartons, checking date codes, and comparing batch marks against the original lot expose that quickly.
Take a lot of 10,000 phone cases where the camera cutout is misaligned on about 6 percent. A sorting team of eight, each checking roughly 150 to 200 units an hour, can clear the lot in under a day, and the defective 600 are either replaced from fresh production or scrapped. This is an illustration, and real rates vary by product, but the point holds. Simple arithmetic on team size, hourly rate, and lot size tells you how many days to add before the vessel cut-off.
Settle who pays before the work starts. In a normal supply agreement, the supplier bears the cost of sorting, rework, and re-inspection when the failure is theirs. Put that in the purchase order so the argument does not begin after the failure. If the supplier refuses, deducting the cost from the final payment is easiest when you still hold the balance.
Communication with your own customer deserves a plan too. If sorting will push the ship date back, tell them early and give a revised date backed by the sorting schedule. Customers accept a short delay with a clear explanation far more easily than a shipment that arrives late and defective. Keep the inspection report, the sorting tally, and the re-inspection report together, since they form the record you will need if the customer raises a claim later.
Some problems cannot be reworked, such as wrong material, a design error, or a safety failure that depends on how the product is built. In that case the choice is replacement production or rejection, and the earlier you decide, the lower the cost. Buyers sourcing under a quality control in China programme often write the rules for sorting and rework into the supply agreement itself, which shortens the conversation when the day comes.
