AQL Calculator (Acceptable Quality Limit Calculator)

International Standard ISO2859-1

*** Input/Choose your information in the areas that are in grey, the areas in green will show the result.
Critical (defects) Major (defects) Minor (defects)
Select AQL
Accept point
Reject point
Sample size

How is AQL applied in practice?

As an importer, even though the ideal acceptable quality level is zero-defect products, you may have to settle for acceptable quality. AQL will help you monitor and avoid batches with unsatisfactory quality levels. If you and your supplier settle on AQL of 1%, the number of defects in the batch from the supplier should not exceed 1%. So, only 10 products can be defective in a batch composed of 1000 products. The importer rejects the entire batch if the number of defective products is 11 or more. The defective products over and above the predetermined number or percentage are known as Rejectable Quality Limit (RQL). RQL is an unsatisfactory quality level. If the quality level falls somewhere between AQL and RQL, it is known as Indifference Quality Level (IQL).
It is important to note that AQL is not constant across all industries. For instance, AQL for healthcare products is more stringent since any defects pose a higher risk to the end-user. Some companies use different settings based on AQL defects. AQL defects are quality issues highlighted during random inspections. They are categorized into three groups:
Critical defects. These are serious defects that can harm the end-user severely. Importers usually use AQL of 0.0 for critical defects. If inspectors find a single critical defect in the selected sample size, the entire order fails the inspection.

Major defects. These defects are less serious but are not acceptable by the end-users since they increase the risk of product failure. Importers typically assign the AQL standard of 2.5% to major defects.

Minor defects. They are small defects with a low impact on safety and the usability of the product. Most importers use the AQL standard of 4% for minor defects.

Each defect is not interpreted similarly by all inspection companies. But, importers and suppliers can agree on an AQL standard that is acceptable to both parties based on the level of risk they assume. Once an AQL standard is agreed on, it will be used as a reference during pre-shipment inspections. To determine the acceptable percentage for each type of defect in a shipment, order, or batch, you’ll use the AQL chart with AQL table, AQL sampling plan table, and AQL sampling chart, or the AQL calculator.

What does Acceptable Quality Level (AQL) means?

Acceptable Quality Level (AQL) is a statistic measurement of the maximum number of defective products considered acceptable in a sample size.

How to Read AQL Chart

AQL chart consists of 2 pages:

Let’s say for example in a shipment, there is an order of 3,000 pcs. In the table below, you can see how many sample sizes would be drawn for inspection based on GI, GII, GIII to S1 – S4.

Product Inspection Level

Acceptance quality levels inspection chartAcceptance quality levels chart

If the AQL are 0/2.5/4.0, the Ac and Re numbers will be as below tables:

Series Intelligent Power System

An example to show you how to read the AQL chart. Please contact us for more details.