Groundwork SourcingChina OEM production Get a quote

Inspection across the whole run — not one check at the end.

Four checkpoints run on every order — IQC → IPQC → FQC → OQC — included, not billed as an add-on. Most agents check once, at the end, when a defect means the whole run is already wasted.

Raw material checked in before cuttingIQC
Incoming

Materials & trims checked before a unit is cut — quantity, spec, COA.

Garment on the sewing line during productionIPQC · included
In-process

On the floor during production — pulling anything off-standard on the spot.

Finished garment measured against the approved sampleFQC
Final

Finished goods — appearance, measurements, packing vs your sample.

Our team bagging and boxing finished garments before dispatchOQC / PDI
Pre-dispatch

Before it ships — quantity, lot, carton marks, documents.

In-process QC comes on every order — it's not an upsell. Caught mid-run, the factory fixes it before the goods are boxed. Caught at the end instead, the whole run is wasted.

Real footage — click a thumbnail
Real in-line QC — our own inspection footage
Add on — at cost, low → high protection
Third-party PSI

An independent inspector's pre-shipment check, on top of ours.

Lab testing

Material, safety & regulatory tests for regulated goods.

100% sorting

Every unit inspected — not a sample — for zero-tolerance orders.

Tighter AQL

Stricter accept levels, more frequent in-process checks.

Billed at cost — we don't mark it up. You pay the inspector's actual invoice; we make our money as your production partner, not by marking up QC. Cost & lead-time depend on scope and volume, quoted per order.

What "at-cost" actually looks like.

Deeper inspection is billed at the inspector's real invoice — nothing added. Here's a representative example so the mechanism isn't just a claim.

Third-party inspection in China runs about $200–320 per man-day (2026 published rates). You pay whatever your inspector actually invoices — and you get to see it. What sourcing agents charge →  ·  A real report where this line was $0 →

Finished goods racked and ready after QC
Example — representative at-cost QC invoice
Line itemDetailCost
PSI inspection3rd-party, pre-shipment · 1 man-day$280
Second man-dayLarger lot / split shipment+ $280
Groundwork's markupOn the two lines above$0
Total billed to youWhatever the inspector invoices$280–560

Questions about how QC works.

Do you charge extra for inspections?

In-process QC is included on every order. Deeper checks — third-party inspection, lab testing, 100% sorting — are billed at cost: the inspector's actual invoice, nothing added, shown to you.

How do you keep bulk matching the sample?

Eight checkpoints, controlled in China: raw-material intake → production → in-line inspection → final QC → packing → dispatch → in-house re-inspection → final packing.

When do you inspect — during production, or only at the end?

Both, and the in-process one is the point. Caught mid-run, the factory fixes it before the goods are boxed; caught at the end instead, the whole run is already wasted. Most agents check once, at the end. IPQC comes on every order here — it isn't an add-on.

What happens if a run fails inspection?

It doesn't ship. On the order in our published report, five of eight contract defect types were present and the measurements failed the 3% band, so the first run was rejected: defective units were pulled and returned, and the factory was told to re-produce rather than rework wherever rework wouldn't hold the shipping date. Nothing from that run reached the buyer. The re-produced lot was inspected again, all six findings cleared, and it shipped.