If you are among our clients, you have certainly received an email from us explaining that very soon the “Same-Day Reporting” will become an option at AQF.

We will indeed continue to offer detailed “pre-results” on the same day of the inspection. However, to ensure the final report is prepared with adequate time and attention, we plan to release the final version the next working day after the inspection. The vast majority of clients are happy to receive the “initial results report” on the day of the inspection and the final report the following working day. Additional fees may apply for the rare client who requires the final report to be completed on the day of the inspection.

Why is next-day reporting now standard?

1. We want to be as reliable as possible, so we prefer our quality supervisors to be reviewing reports during the day rather than late at night (sometimes as late as 1 or 2 AM!) We noticed that it was easy for small issues to go unnoticed, when the report is reviewed late at night. Supervisors are not at their best in the late evening. They are much more likely to catch inconsistencies or abnormal signals during normal working hours, especially in the morning.
2. We want our quality supervisors to be able to reach the inspectors or vendors in case they have questions about the findings or the report. When reports are validated after 8 PM China time, we are often unable to get in touch with the factory or inspector to ask check details before releasing the report. Since our mission is to provide very clear and complete information, so we think this tradeoff (more superficial review for faster reporting) is not a good idea.
3. Most clients have stated a preference to wait the next day in order to get more reliable results and reports. Most organized clients have a margin of at least a couple of days between the inspection date and the loading date/shipment date, and would rather wait for the detailed report than push it too quickly.
4. Our employees are our most important asset and we want to keep them happy. When working at night, our quality supervisors have the choice to work from the offices or from home (they are experienced, qualified and trained enough to do so). Of course, when you finish the work at 1AM, sometimes 2 AM, most of the people will choose to work from home, so they can go to bed directly after the work is done. Although we encourage them to have a separate room to do this, most Chinese will have their computer in their living room, leading to possible distractions from other family members. Simply put, working late at night and out of a house is not the ideal situation to prepare a reliable inspection report!
5. Because we want to keep the Same-Day Reporting as an option. Because we understand some clients really need it more than others occasionally, but feel that late night reporting should only be done in emergency situations.

Some other companies systematically send the reports same day, but in many cases they are either very small or do not have great care for their employees or the report’s reliability. At AQF, reliability is our #1 job!