[In December 2003 the ASQ (American Society for Quality) released the ANSI/ASQ Z1.4-2003 standard. This is a revision to the ANSI/ASQC Z1.4-1993 standard. The ASQ began shipping this new standard revision in middle January 2004.
Changes in ANSI/ASQ Z1.4-2003 revision
- The name of the standard has been changed to drop the "C". This reflects the 1997 name change of American Society for Quality Control to the current American Society for Quality.
- The definition of AQL has been changed from Acceptable Quality Level to Acceptance Quality Limit.
- The Discontinuation of Inspection rule has been changed from 10 consecutive lots or batches on tightened inspection to 5 consecutive lots or batches not accepted on tightened inspection.
- In Double Sampling the * footnote has been changed. The option to use an alternate double sampling plan has been deleted from this note. Users are directed just to use the corresponding single sampling plan.
- There are similar footnote changes for Double Sampling (AQLs 25 and above) and Multiple sampling that do not apply to the AQL Inspector's Rule.
- The notes in this revision specify that the numbers and tables remain the same as the MIL-STD-105E except for the changes to the footnotes.
The only change to the AQL Inspector's Rule (ANSI version) for the ANSI/ASQ Z1.4-2003 revision will be item 4 above. None of the numbers, sample plans or operation of the AQL Inspector's Rule changes with this revision.
The AQL Inspection Manual was updated in 2004 to include the items list above.