‘AQL‘ stands for ‘Acceptance Quality Limit‘, and is defined as the “quality level that is the worst tolerable” in ISO 2859-1. It represents the maximum number of defective units, beyond which a batch is rejected. Importers usually set different AQLs for critical, major, and minor defects. Most Asian exporters are familiar with this type of setting.

For example: “AQL is 1.5%” means “I want no more than 1.5% defective items in the whole order quantity, on average over several production runs with that supplier”.

The “AQL Tables”

The “AQL tables” are statistical tools at the disposal of buyinspection levelers (for product inspections). They are an industry standard. Most suppliers involved in international trade are familiar with it.

They help determine two key elements:

  1. How many samples should be picked and inspected, among a batch of product or parts?
  2. Where is the limit between acceptability and refusal, when it comes to defective products?

(If you’d like to see how to use AQL tables, jump to the section “Getting familiar with the AQL tables” below.)

AQL Calculator

Our calculator is based on the AQL tables but gives you a fast answer. Fill in the calculator to easily find your perfect sample size (the number of pieces that should be randomly checked from the lot being examined) and the number of major and minor defects that can be tolerated based on your AQL specifications.