Why everything is decided before loading
A quality dispute discovered on arrival in Europe is almost always lost before it starts. Here is what we check in the mill, and why.
Picture the scenario every importer knows. The container arrives, you open the doors, and the thickness is wrong. Or the moisture content is too high. Or the visual sorting does not match the approved sample.
At that precise moment your negotiating position is already very weak: the goods are paid for, they are at your place, and the mill is 10,000 km away. Your choice is between a partial credit after weeks of discussion, or goods you cannot sell at the planned price.
The only useful moment
The only moment when a quality problem can be solved without costing you money is before the container is sealed. At that stage the mill can re-sort, re-produce, or push back the departure. Afterwards, every solution involves another shipment.
That is why pre-shipment inspection is included in our prices and never offered as an option.
What we check
- Actual dimensions, measured on a sample of the batch — not the ones on the purchase order.
- Moisture content, at the right moment: a panel loaded too wet will move in transit and arrive distorted.
- Glue-line quality on edge-glued panels: that is where delamination on arrival is decided.
- Visual sorting, against the sample you approved — knots, sapwood, colour variation.
- Packing and marking, including bracing inside the container: a lot of damage originates there rather than in production.
What you receive
A detailed photo report, before departure. You approve, or you do not. In the second case it is our problem and the mill's — not yours.
