5.2 The specification of a sampling plan provides purchas-
ers and sellers a means of identifying the minimum quality
level that is considered to be satisfactory.
5.3 Because sampling plans yield estimates of the quality of
a product, the results of the inspection are subject to error.
Through the selection of a sampling plan, the potential error is
known and controlled.
5.4 Sampling inspection is used when a decision must be
made about what to do with a quantity of articles. This quantity
may be a shipment from a supplier, articles that are ready for
a subsequent manufacturing operation, or articles ready for
shipment to a customer.
5.5 In sampling inspection, a relatively small number of
articles (the sample) is selected randomly from a larger number
of articles (the inspection lot); the sample is inspected for
conformance to the requirements placed on the articles. Based
on the results, a decision is made whether or not the lot
conforms to the requirements.
5.6 Since only a portion of a production lot is inspected, the
quality of the uninspected articles is not known. The possibility
exists that some of the uninspected articles are nonconforming.
Therefore, basic to any sampling inspection plan is the will-
ingness of the buyer to accept lots that contain some noncon-
forming articles. The number of nonconforming articles in
accepted lots is controlled by the size of the sample and the
criteria of acceptance that are placed on the sample.
5.7 Acceptance sampling plans are used for the following
reasons:
5.7.1 When the cost of inspection is high and the conse-
quences of accepting a nonconforming article are not serious.
5.7.2 When 100 % inspection is fatiguing and boring and,
therefore, likely to result in errors.
5.7.3 When inspection requires a destructive test, sampling
inspection must be used.
5.8 In acceptance sampling by variables, the coating char-
acteristic of each article in the sample is measured. Using the
arithmetic mean of these values, the standard deviation of the
process, and the factor kthat is found in the Tables, a number
is calculated (see 9.3). If this number equals or exceeds the
specified minimum, the inspection lot conforms to the require-
ments. If it is less, the lot does not conform. If the standard
deviation of the process is not known, the standard deviation of
the sample is calculated and used.
5.9 The use of a sampling plan involves the balancing of the
costs of inspection against the consequences of accepting an
undesirable number of nonconforming articles. There is always
a risk that a random sample will not describe correctly the
characteristics of the lot from which it is drawn, and that an
unacceptable lot will be accepted or an acceptable lot will be
rejected. The larger the sample, the smaller this risk but the
larger the cost of inspection.
5.10 To understand the risks, consider that if every article in
an inspection lot conforms to its requirements, every article in
the sample will conform also. Such lots will be accepted (Note
1). If only a few articles in an inspection lot are
nonconforming, the sample probably will indicate that the lot is
acceptable; but there is a small probability that the sample will
indicate that the lot is unacceptable. The larger the proportion
of nonconforming articles in an inspection lot, the more likely
it will be that the sample will indicate that the lot is unaccept-
able. If every article in an inspection lot is nonconforming, a
sample will always indicate that the lot is unacceptable.
NOTE 1—Throughout this method, it is assumed that no mistakes are
made in sampling, measurement, and calculation.
5.11 The probability of accepting an inspection lot that
contains nonconforming items is often described in terms of
the Acceptable Quality Level (AQL) and the Limiting Quality
Level (LQL). The AQL is the quality level that is considered to
be acceptable. The LQL is a quality level that is considered to
be barely tolerable. A sampling plan is selected that has a high
probability of accepting lots of AQL quality and of rejecting
lots of LQL quality. In this method, the AQL given for a
sampling plan is the quality level of lots (expressed as the
percentage of nonconforming articles) that have a 95 % prob-
ability of being accepted. The LQL is the quality level of lots
that have a 10 % probability of being accepted or, in other
words, a 90 % probability of being rejected. The tables in this
method give the AQL and LQL of each plan. They also give the
50/50 point, the quality level of a lot that is just as likely to be
accepted as rejected.
5.12 The disposition of nonconforming inspection lots is
beyond the scope of this method because, depending on the
circumstances, lots may be returned to the supplier, kept and
used, put to a different use, scrapped, reworked, or dealt with
in some other way. An alternative is rectifying inspection in
which rejected lots are screened and used.
5.13 In rectifying inspection, when an inspection lot is
rejected, all of the articles in the lot are inspected and
nonconforming ones are removed. They may be replaced with
conforming articles. The now 100 % conforming lot is ac-
cepted. With this practice, the average quality level for a series
of lots taken as a whole will be better because of the addition
of the 100 % conforming lots. When the incoming lots are of a
good quality level, the average quality level of a series of lots
TABLE 5 Sampling Plans for Destructive Tests, Standard
Deviation Known
A
Inspection Lot Size nkAQL LQL 50/50
Point
26 through 1 200 5 1.262 2.3 25 10
1 201 through 35 000 10 1.411 2.7 16 7.9
Over 35 000 14 1.519 2.5 12 6.5
A
The AQL, LQL, and 50/50 Point are in percent.
TABLE 6 Sampling Plans for Destructive Tests, Standard
Deviation Unknown
A
Inspection Lot Size nkAQL LQL 50/50
Point
26 through 1 200 9 1.181 2.8 27 12
1 201 through 35 000 19 1.412 2.5 16 7.9
Over 35 000 34 1.497 2.8 12 6.7
A
The AQL, LQL, and 50/50 Point are in percent.
B762 − 21
3