PurposeAcceptance sampling plans are a decision-making process on the basis of a randomly selected sampling from a party, where it is not possible to completely scan the products for reasons such as time and cost being limited or the formation of damaged products during the inspection. For some products, the life span (time from beginning to failure) may be an important quality characteristic. In this case, the quality control adequacy of the products can be checked with an acceptance sampling plan based on the truncated life test with a censored scheme for the lifetime of the products. In this study, group acceptance sampling plans (GASPs) based on life tests are studied under the Type-I censored scheme for the compound Weibull-exponential (CWE) distribution.Design/methodology/approachGASPs based on life tests under the Type-I censored scheme for the CWE distribution are developed by using both the producer's risk and the consumer's risk.FindingsIn this study, optimum sample size, optimum number of groups and acceptance number are obtained under the Type-I censored scheme for the CWE distribution. Real data set illustration is given to show GASPs how to be used for the industry applications.Originality/valueDifferent from acceptance sampling plans with just considering the producer's risk, GASPs are constructed by using two-point approach included both the producer's risk and the consumer's risk for CWE distribution.