Reorder QC checklist

By Mohamad Sinno, Charcoal Expert · Last updated 7 October 2026 · Reviewed by Budi Dharmawan, Head of QC, 4 September 2026

Three blocks: what to fix before you order, what to check when the box lands, and what to do if a figure falls outside your band. It works for any charcoal supplier, including us.

Before you reorder

• State the tier and the ash band on the purchase order — not "premium", the band. A grade name is not a specification and no standards body defines one.
• Ask for the batch COA number to be quoted on the proforma, so the document and the shipment are tied together before anything moves.
• Confirm the basis and the laboratory: as-received or dry, and which lab. Both should match whatever your previous comparison used.
• Write the acceptance band into the contract. A band on a website binds nobody; the one in your contract is the one that decides a dispute.

Why the band and not the grade name: measured, claimed and guaranteed ash are three different things, and only one of them is enforceable.

When the container lands

• Read the batch COA line by line against the contract band — the certificate for THIS shipment, not a previous one and not a spec sheet.
• Check the basis on the certificate matches the basis in your contract. A figure that moved because the basis changed has not moved.
• Check the method column is populated for every row. A named in-house laboratory method is fine; a blank is not.
• Count pieces per kilogram against the figure your seller stated, on a sample of cartons rather than one.
• Open cartons from more than one pallet: check inner packing, moisture barrier integrity, breakage and fines at the bottom of the box.
• Photograph what you find as you find it, including the carton markings and the seal, before anything is repacked or moved.

A COA is issued for every production batch, so the certificate for your shipment exists and can be asked for. Where each check sits on the document: how to read a charcoal COA line by line.

If a figure is out of band

• Photograph the material, the carton markings, the batch identification and the certificate together, so the evidence is self-dating.
• Keep the cartons and the packaging. Material that has been repacked or redistributed is very hard to argue about afterwards.
• Raise it in writing inside the claims window. Ours is seven days from receipt, set out in the quality guarantee; if your contract sets a different period, the contract governs.
• Ask the supplier to pull and re-test a retained sample from that production tonne, where a retention scheme exists.

On the last point: we retain 10 × 1 kg boxes, drawn at random from every production tonne for 5 years, so a shipment can be re-tested long after it left — retained samples and what consistency can mean covers the storage caveat that comes with them.

We publish no tolerance figure here, deliberately. It belongs in your contract, it varies by contract, and a number invented on a web page is worse than none. The claims window is different: ours is published — seven days from receipt, with replacement or credit on the next order as the remedy. If you are dealing with us and something is out of band, the export desk is the route.