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Die Casting Inspection
A UTS inspector goes to your foundry and checks the castings before they ship — dimensions on gauges and CMM, surface defects, coating, packing. You get a report full of photos within 24 hours.
Since 2006 · CNAS-accredited to ISO/IEC 17020 · All China provinces covered
Independent die casting inspection across China and Asia since 2006
2006Year UTS started inspection work
48hInspector on-site anywhere in China
24hPhoto-documented PDF report delivered
10+Asian countries covered, China included
Where Die-Cast Orders Usually Go Wrong
Castings look fine stacked at the foundry. The trouble starts at machining — or worse, on your customer's assembly line.
Porosity hides under the skin
A casting can look perfect and still leak. Gas and shrinkage porosity only show up at machining, at pressure testing, or in the field.
The die wears, dimensions drift
Cavities erode shot by shot. Part 50,000 is not part 500 — and nobody at the foundry re-measures it for you.
Flash and trimming vary by shift
Extra metal at the parting line, uneven trimming, sharp edges. Your customer's assembly workers notice it first.
Coating peels after delivery
Powder coating or plating over a porous, oily surface blisters weeks later. The foundry's visual check never catches it.
What We Check on a Die-Cast Order
Every order is sampled to ANSI/ASQ Z1.4 AQL tables. Each defect is graded critical, major, or minor, so you get a clear pass, fail, or hold result — not a guess.
Critical dimensions
Calipers, micrometers, depth and thread gauges on drawing-critical features. Curved surfaces and multi-angle holes go on a coordinate measuring machine.
Casting and surface defects
Porosity, cold shuts, misruns, flash, cracks, shrinkage marks, ejector-pin marks, flow lines — checked under proper light against your acceptance limits.
Weight and material
Unit weight against the approved sample. A lighter casting usually means thinner walls or a different alloy.
Machining and threads
Go/no-go gauges on threaded holes and bores. Burrs, incomplete tapping, and cylindricity on the fits that matter.
Coating and finish
Powder coating, plating, anodizing: coverage, thickness, adhesion, and color — especially over parting lines and recessed areas.
Assembly and function
Mating parts trial-fitted, flatness checked on gasket faces, moving parts cycled.
Packing, quantity, marks
Counts per carton, rust protection, separators between castings, carton marks, and total quantity against your PO. How we classify defects
One Foundry Visit Can Cover Many Part Types
Aluminum, zinc, or magnesium — every part family gets its own checklist and its own defect list in the same visit.
Aluminum alloy castings
Housings, brackets, covers, heat sinks — weight, porosity, and critical dimensions against your drawing.
Zinc alloy hardware
Locks, handles, fittings, small precision parts — threads, plating quality, burr-free edges.
Cookware and kitchenware
Die-cast pots and pans — coating adhesion, handle strength, base flatness, food-contact labels.
Molds and tooling
Die-casting molds reviewed for cavity wear, parting-line condition, and maintenance records.
A porous casting passes the factory's visual check. It fails on your customer's line.
The expensive die-cast defects are invisible until machining or assembly. The check has to happen at the foundry, before the balance payment.
How Tight Dimensions Actually Get Measured
This is what "dimensional inspection" means on a die-cast part — real numbers from the UTS measurement routine, not adjectives.
Measurement room conditions20 °C ±0.5 °C, 50% RH ±2%
Why temperature matters+0.0023 mm per °C on a 100 mm aluminum part
Caliper grip force2–3 N, thumbwheel at 5 mm/s
CMM working condition0.4 MPa air bearings, Grade 00 granite, flatness 0.002 mm
CMM probe1.0 mm ruby stylus, 5 mm/s touch speed
Data captured per complex part300+ spatial coordinate points
CMM precision0.0001 mm
Thread check, go endM4×0.7 through all 6 threads at 0.5 N·m
Thread check, no-go endStops within 2 turns (0.14 mm)
Gauge calibrationEvery 10,000 uses, wear limit 0.005 mm
A real case from the floor: a 0.015 mm cylindricity deviation on one mounting hole dropped the process capability index below 1.33. The full 5,000-piece batch was red-tagged and quarantined before it reached a container.
How Every Defect Is Graded
You set the AQL limits when booking. The inspector counts defects against them, so the result is a number, not an opinion.
Critical
Anything unsafe or against import rules — a sharp burr on a handle, a crack in a load-bearing bracket, the wrong alloy in a structural part. One critical defect fails the lot.
AQL 0
Major
Anything that makes the part unusable or unsellable — porosity on a sealing face, a thread that fails the go gauge, coating that peels in a tape test.
AQL 2.5
Minor
Small flaws most buyers accept in low numbers — a light flow line in a hidden area, a faint shade difference in the coating.
AQL 4.0Defects We Catch Before You Pay the Balance
These show up again and again in die-cast orders. Each one gets photographed and listed in your report with its grade.
- Gas and shrinkage porosity on machined faces
- Cold shuts and misruns on thin walls
- Flash left at the parting line and ejector pins
- Cracks around ribs, bosses, and sharp corners
- Blisters under powder coating or plating
- Bores and threads that fail the go/no-go gauge
- Dimensions drifting as the die wears
- Unit weight below the approved sample
- Rust on unprotected steel and iron parts
- Short quantities and mixed part numbers in cartons
Catch It at the First Casting, Not the Ten-Thousandth
First-article review before mass production
Dimensions, weight, and surface on the first shots off the die, measured against your drawing — before the batch exists. How a first article inspection works
Die condition on record
Parting line, cavity wear, and ejector marks compared across visits. Drift shows in the data before it shows in your goods.
Mid-production checks
A during-production inspection at 30–50% catches drift while most of the order can still be corrected.
The final gate
A final random inspection at 100% produced, 80% packed — the standard checkpoint before the balance payment.
What Happens on Inspection Day
You don't need to brief anyone on the day. This is what the inspector does once he walks into the foundry.
- Check-in and paperworkGPS check-in at the foundry address, then your PO, drawing, and approved sample go on the table. Anything missing gets flagged to you before measuring starts.
- Sampling, cavity by cavitySamples are pulled to the AQL level you booked. Multi-cavity dies get sampled per cavity, so one worn cavity can't hide inside a passing average.
- Measuring and testingCritical dimensions on gauges and CMM, threads on go/no-go gauges, weight, coating, and trial fitting of mating parts. Every reading is written down as it happens.
- Packing reviewRust protection, separators, carton marks, counts per carton, total quantity against your PO.
- Same-day verbal resultYou hear pass, fail, or hold the same day. The full PDF report with photos and readings follows within 24 hours.
What Lands in Your Inbox Within 24 Hours
- A clear pass, fail, or hold result for the whole lot
- The full defect list — critical, major, minor — with photos of each one
- Actual measurement readings against your drawing tolerances, feature by feature
- Photos of the castings, machining marks, inner packing, cartons, and labels
- A report in plain English that your team and your foundry can both act on
Foundries in 13 Chinese provinces and 10+ Asian countries — an inspector on-site within 48 hours of confirmation.
Request an InspectionWhere These Castings End Up
Tell us what the part has to do, and the inspector puts those checks first.
Automotive and machinery
Brackets, housings, covers — tight bores, cylindricity, and porosity on sealing faces come first.
LED and electrical housings
Heat-sink flatness, thread quality, and coating coverage over fins and recessed areas.
Power tools and hardware
Gearbox housings, handles, locks — fit, burrs, and plating that survives daily use.
Cookware and kitchen
Die-cast pots and pans — coating adhesion, handle pull strength, base flatness, food-contact labels. See the cookware checklist
When Buyers Book This One
First order with a new foundry
You have never seen their bulk castings. The inspection is your proof before the balance payment leaves your account.
A repeat order after a quality slip
Last batch leaked, or came back scratched and out of tolerance. This time someone checks the castings before they move, not after they arrive.
Before the balance payment
The standard pre-shipment gate: goods finished, 80% packed, sampled to AQL, reported within 24 hours.
After the foundry's rework
They say the porosity is fixed. A re-inspection confirms it before you release payment.
What an Inspection Costs
No package tiers and no hidden line items. You get one written price before anything is booked.
Pay per man-day
One inspector, one day at the foundry covers most single-part-number batches. Complex multi-cavity orders get a clear multi-day plan in the quote.
Travel and weekends included
The written quote is the final price. Nothing is added later — not travel, not weekend work.
Quote back the same day
Send the PO and the drawing, and the plan and price usually come back the same working day.
Re-inspection, same terms
If the lot fails and the foundry reworks, the follow-up visit is quoted per man-day again — you approve it before we go.
A Product Inspection Checks the Parts. A Factory Audit Checks the Foundry.
Real capacity, not brochure capacity
UTS auditors once walked a Zhejiang die-casting plant that claimed a 10,000-worker scale. The headcount on the floor was under 80, over 60% of the equipment was obsolete — and its capacity report still promised 2,000 tons a month.
Machines, dies, and maintenance records
Which casting machines actually run, their tonnage, die storage and maintenance logs, and the measuring equipment behind the "100% inspected" claim.
Quality control on the floor
How incoming alloy ingot is checked, how porosity is controlled shot by shot, and whether the QC station works or just decorates the line.
Factory evaluation service
Book it before the deposit, or read when buyers usually book a factory audit.
Add Lab Proof When the Market Calls for It
Metal parts still carry chemical and food-contact rules in most markets. Testing can run alongside your inspection.
REACH / RoHS testing
Restricted-substance screening for castings and coatings sold into the EU market.
View lab testing
CA Prop 65 compliance
Chemical screening coordination for metal hardware and cookware headed to California.
View lab testing
Food-contact testing
Die-cast cookware needs FDA or EU food-contact proof in most markets. It can run alongside the inspection.
View lab testing
Sample evaluation
Send the reference casting before the bulk run — checked against your drawing, then kept as the golden sample.
View serviceAn Accredited Inspection Body, Not a Freelance Agent
ISO/IEC 17020 — accredited by CNAS
The international standard for inspection bodies, held by UTS since 2016. It covers independence, competence, and consistent working methods.
ISO 9001:2015
A certified internal quality management system behind every booking, inspection, and report.
AQSIQ licensed
Licensed for quality supervision, inspection, and quarantine operations across China.
Our qualifications and company background
Full accreditation details on the UTS company page.
Trusted by quality teams at 30+ global brands
Why Importers Keep UTS on Retainer
Full-time, university-educated engineers
Your inspection is done by UTS staff, not subcontracted freelancers.
GPS-verified factory check-in
Every visit is geo-tagged at the actual foundry address.
Same-day result on-site
You hear the inspector's result the day of the visit. The full PDF report follows within 24 hours.
All-inclusive quotes
No travel surcharges and no weekend surcharges. The quoted man-day price is final.
A dedicated account manager
One contact follows your order and answers within 2 hours on working days.
Fast scheduling
Bookings are accepted within 24 hours — useful when production finishes early.
Other Services Die-Cast Buyers Also Book
Same inspectors, same report format, booked the same way.
Final Random Inspection
The standard pre-shipment quality gate — goods finished and packed.
View service
During Production Inspection
Catch dimensional drift at 30–50% complete, while the order can still be corrected.
View service
Sample Evaluation
Check the reference casting against your drawing before the bulk run starts.
View service
Container Loading Supervision
Right cartons, right quantities, loaded without transit damage.
View serviceWorth Reading Before You Book
From the UTS blog — written from the factory floor, not from a desk.
What Expert QC Inspectors Actually Check
The full measurement routine: CMM setup, gauge handling, and the tolerances that matter.
Read article
Supplier Risk Assessment Before Bulk Orders
How a "10,000-worker" die-casting plant turned out to have fewer than 80 people on the floor.
Read article
How to Verify a Manufacturer Through a Factory Audit
Ownership, real facilities, and the production lines behind the brochure.
Read articleWhat to Send Us
Four things are enough to plan your inspection. Send them over and you usually get the plan and the price back the same day.
Your PO with quantities per part number
Part numbers and cavity counts matter — mixed-cavity runs get sampled per cavity.
The 2D drawing with tolerances
Mark the critical dimensions. No drawing? Photos of the approved sample with the key measurements written down work too.
The approved or golden sample
The benchmark for weight, finish, and color. The factory can ship it to us directly.
Foundry address and your ship date
We schedule directly with the foundry. Any province in China — the inspector is there within 48 hours of confirmation.
How Booking Works
Send your order details
Email inquiry@utsinspection.com or use the online booking portal — whichever is easier for you.
Confirm scope and quote
You get the inspection plan, the sampling level, and an all-inclusive price in writing — usually the same day.
Get inspected and reported
The inspector is on-site within 48 hours. The full PDF report reaches your inbox within 24 hours of the visit.
Questions Buyers Ask Before Booking
How much does a die casting inspection cost?
We quote per man-day, based on where the foundry is, the number of part numbers and cavities, and what you want checked. The price you get in writing already includes travel and weekend work — nothing is added later.
Which alloys and parts do you inspect?
Aluminum, zinc, and magnesium alloy castings: housings, brackets, covers, heat sinks, cookware, locks and hardware, automotive and machinery components. We also check CNC-machined castings and, on request, the die-casting molds themselves.
Can you measure tight tolerances on complex shapes?
Yes. Drawing-critical features are measured with calipers, micrometers, depth and thread gauges on-site. Castings with curved surfaces and multi-angle holes go on a coordinate measuring machine (CMM), and the report lists actual readings against your tolerances, feature by feature.
How do you handle orders from multi-cavity dies?
We sample per cavity, not just per batch. Parts from cavity 3 and cavity 7 are measured and listed separately in the report, so a single worn cavity cannot hide inside a passing average.
What AQL do you use for die-cast parts?
Sampling follows ANSI/ASQ Z1.4 (ISO 2859-1). The standard setup is Critical 0, Major 2.5, Minor 4.0. If your drawing or market calls for tighter limits, you set them when booking and the inspector counts against them.
Can you check coating and plating too?
Yes. Coating coverage, thickness, adhesion, and color are checked on-site, with extra attention to parting lines and recessed areas where coating runs thin. Cross-cut and tape tests are done where the finish calls for it.
What happens if the inspection fails?
You get a fail or hold result with photos and the full defect list, plus the measurement readings behind it. Then it is your call: ask the foundry to rework or re-run, book a re-inspection, or negotiate. We report — you decide.
How fast can an inspector reach the foundry?
Within 48 hours in any province of China, once we have your PO, the 2D drawing or approved sample, the foundry address, and the date you need.
Do you check the die-casting molds too?
Yes. Die-casting molds are part of the UTS industry scope. During a factory audit or first-article visit, the die's parting line, cavity wear, and maintenance records can be reviewed, because most batch-to-batch drift starts at the die.
Do you inspect die-cast parts outside China?
Yes. UTS works in more than 10 Asian countries, including Vietnam, India, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Thailand, the Philippines, and Korea. The same checklist and report format apply.
Dies wear. Cavities drift. Sampling catches it before your customer does.
Tell us when the batch finishes. We handle the inspector, the foundry scheduling, and the report — you just read the result.
Ship This Batch With Confidence
Send your PO and drawing today. You get a confirmed inspection plan and an all-inclusive quote — usually the same day.
UTS Inspection · Foshan and Hangzhou, China · Serving importers since 2006
