Can a case inspection report carry fewer than ten fields?

Answer: No. The ten cover four decision dimensions, and dropping one leaves a dimension nobody can recheck. A 600-piece batch missing wall points needs 4 h of retesting and 8 samples pulled from stock.

Why six points for interior size?

Answer: Four walls plus two base diagonal points cover where shrinkage varies most. Tolerance is ±0.7 mm per point, and one point outside the band fails the case, because the interior governs assembly.

Can airtightness be written as pass only?

Answer: No. Without 25 kPa, 45 s and 0.04 kPa nobody can repeat the test. A 0.04 kPa decay is 0.16% of the charge, small enough to need stated conditions.

Are three retention samples enough?

Answer: Yes, they answer three questions: one for appearance and colour recheck, one for sectioning, one kept intact. If their numbers do not match the sheet, three samples are worth none.

What if ten fields will not fit on two pages?

Answer: Shorten the criteria, writing 3.05 mm minimum and 3.2 mm ±0.15 mm mean instead of clause numbers. Ten rows fit one A4 landscape page.

Case Inspection Report: Ten Data Points in a Case Report

Quick answer: Ten fields carry a case inspection report: batch code, quantity, interior size, wall, weight, colour, airtightness, drop, appearance and verdict.

Why the report came back three times
Interior size and wall thickness
Batch code, quantity and weight
Colour, airtightness and drop conditions
Appearance and the three verdicts
The three fields to watch
FAQ

1. Why the report came back three times

A 600-piece order went through three rejections of the same case inspection report. The first note said one word: batch code. The second added the code and came back again, because wall thickness read 3.2 mm as an average with no sample points. The third carried the points, but airtightness still said pass, with no pressure.

The four missing fields cluster in one place: batch and sample code, wall points, test conditions and two signatures. Each one is a record the reviewer needs, not a verdict to accept.

Missing field	Why returned	Fix
Batch code	600 pieces untraceable	2 h tracing
Wall points	A point may sit at 2.9 mm	4 h on line
Airtight conditions	25 or 50 kPa unknown	3 pieces, 1 day
Signatures	Tester is approver	2 days

The ten fields form four groups: identity (2), geometry (3), test (3), verdict (2), so tester and approver never sign the same line.

2. Interior size and wall thickness

Interior size runs three directions: 585 mm long, 385 mm wide, 195 mm deep, tolerance ±0.7 mm. The gauge is a 0–600 mm vernier at 0.02 mm resolution, six points per case, one at each interior wall midpoint and two on the base diagonal. Readings go to 0.1 mm.

Case inspection report sampling of one black case opened on grey, lid egg-crate foam above a segmented base, two front latches and a centre handle

Wall thickness uses an ultrasonic gauge at 0.01 mm resolution over six points: four wall midpoints, base centre, lid centre. The rule is 3.05 mm minimum at any point, mean inside 3.2 mm ±0.15 mm. An average hides the risk, since a case at 3.2 mm can carry 2.9 mm at a corner that whitens first in a 1.0 m drop.

Mid-wall and corner differ by 0.2 mm on one case, so a second operator measuring elsewhere will not reconcile, and gauge IDs belong in the sheet because a caliper wears 0.02 mm in 2 years.

Feature	Points	Gauge	Criterion
Interior L/W/D	3	Vernier	±0.7 mm
Interior walls	4	Vernier	Above −0.7 mm
Wall thickness	4	Ultrasonic	≥3.05 mm
Base and lid	2	Ultrasonic	3.2 mm ±0.15 mm

3. Batch code, quantity and weight

The batch code runs 8 characters: six for the date, one for shift, one for press, for example 261101A2. The cavity number is moulded into the base, and only the pair leads back to the machine.

Quantity reads 600 pieces plus a sample of 8, which is 1.3%. A quantity without a sample size says nothing, since all ten fields come from those 8 pieces.

Weight is 4.85 kg with a ±2% band, 4.75–4.95 kg, empty on a 15 kg scale at 1 g resolution. It is the cheapest detector here: a 120 g spread across 8 pieces points at wall thickness first.

4. Colour, airtightness and drop conditions

Colour is read on a portable spectrophotometer at D65 and 10° against the retained master, averaging lid, side and base. Two limits go in: mean ΔE at or below 1.0, single-piece ceiling 1.6. With the mean alone, one off-shade case is pulled back inside the line.

Case inspection report recheck of an olive green case opened on a steel bench, egg-crate lid foam, divided base foam, two front latches, cartons behind

Airtightness carries three numbers: charge to 25 kPa, hold 45 s, decay no more than 0.04 kPa. Drop one and the test cannot be stood up again. Ambient temperature goes in brackets at 23 ℃ ±3, because decay drifts with the season.

Drop runs at 1.0 m, one impact per face plus one on a base edge, 7 in all, with the airtightness retest on the same case. Colour and airtightness are measured first, because a drop whitens corners and shifts the sealing face.

Item	Conditions	Criterion
Colour	D65, 10°, 3 points	Mean ≤1.0
Airtightness	25 kPa, 45 s, 23 ℃	Decay ≤0.04 kPa
Drop	1.0 m, 7 impacts	Latches shut

5. Appearance and the three verdicts

Appearance is judged at 800 lx from 500 mm over 30 s per case. The rule must be countable: a scratch longer than 10 mm counts as one defect, two are allowed per case, and sink marks or flow lines are compared with the master whose number sits in the sheet.

A master beats memory: without one, two inspectors on the same batch split over two scratches against one, and the report loses its single standard.

The verdict has three values: pass, concession, return. A concession names its release condition, for example two scratches and decay within 0.03 kPa. Writing to be reworked and then passed is not a verdict.

6. The three fields to watch

Of the ten, the three worth watching are wall thickness, airtightness and colour. All three spread over the whole case, so a sample that misses the thin corner measures nothing, while the other seven show at a glance.

Wall thickness sets the margin for drop and stacking: 0.2 mm thin is invisible at rest and appears as a whitened corner after a 1.0 m drop. Airtightness turns an invisible gap into a number, and a decay from 0.02 kPa to 0.06 kPa usually means a compressed gasket. Colour has nothing to do with function yet drives rejection first.

The report runs over 2 pages. Page 1 holds ten rows: item, gauge, value, criterion, verdict. Page 2 holds the batch header, sampling note, summary verdict and two signature boxes.

The inspector signs page 1 values, the quality manager signs page 2 summary and release condition. One person signing both boxes voids the case inspection report in an audit.

Three retention samples match the sample codes, and the sheet is filed with them for 3 years, electronic copies named by batch code.

Conclusion

The value of a case inspection report sits in the ten numbers, not the verdict line, because numbers are what a second person can reproduce. Close the four missing fields and the sheet turns auditable: an 8-character batch code, 8 pieces from 600, interior 585 mm with wall thickness at 6 points, weight spread within 120 g, mean ΔE 1.0, 25 kPa held 45 s at 0.04 kPa decay, 7 impacts from 1.0 m, appearance at 800 lx. Two actions follow: freeze the ten rows into an A4 landscape template with two signature boxes on page 2, and run each batch at 8 samples, 3 retention pieces and 3 years of filing. With the template fixed, returns fall from 3 to 0, because a missing field is blocked at the header.

Item	Method	Criterion
Batch code	8 characters	Matches samples
Quantity	Order plus sample	600, 8 sampled
Interior size	Vernier	585/385/195 mm
Wall thickness	Ultrasonic, 6 points	Min 3.05 mm
Weight	15 kg scale	4.85 kg ±2%
Colour	D65, 3 points	Mean ΔE 1.0
Airtightness	25 kPa, 45 s	0.04 kPa decay
Drop	1.0 m, 7 impacts	Latches shut
Appearance	800 lx, 500 mm	Scratch over 10 mm
Verdict	Two signatures	Pass, concession, return

This article discusses container-side specifications and design implications only, and does not cover any handling, loading or use of the contents.