Factory audit

Costco is the largest chain membership warehouse store in the United States. It originated from PriceClub, which was established in San Diego, California in 1976, and Costco, which was founded in Seattle, Washington seven years later. In 2009, it was the third largest retailer in the United States and the ninth largest in the world. 

Costco was the pioneer of membership-based warehouse wholesale clubs. Since its establishment, it has been committed to providing its members with high-quality branded products at the lowest possible prices. 

Costco's QMS quality inspection process is divided into three types: 

1. QMS quality inspection: Similar to garment factories, they follow the QMS standards. 

2. GMP Inspection: For certain industries, such as the furniture industry, Costco requires compliance with GMP standards. 

3. SQP Audit: Follows the standards of ITS. 

Quality QMS and GMP inspection results: 

Usually, a score of 71 is considered passing, but generally speaking, an 85 is considered the best. 

1. Inspection Party: Currently, the inspection party conducts the inspections based on three different areas - social responsibility, counter-terrorism, and quality. These inspections are mainly carried out by the following certification companies: 

1) Social responsibility and C-TPAT anti-terrorism factory inspection: Mainly for UL and BV. 

2) QMS Audit: Conducted mainly by BV; 

3) GMP inspection: Conducted mainly by SGS; 

4) SQP inspection: Conducted by ITS. 

Of course, this is not an absolute statement. It's more of a relative situation at present, and the probability of distribution is relatively high. 

II. Inspection Cycle: 

Currently, during the Costco factory inspection process, a fixed inspection date is usually set for the factory. 

III. Validity Period of the Factory Inspection Report: 

The results of the Costco factory inspection, whether accepted or conditionally accepted, usually have a validity period of one year. For the rejected grades, generally, a follow-up audit is required within about three months. Of course, they can also be frozen by the Costco factory inspection.