What Is Quality Control (QC)?

Quality control (QC) is a system that ensures that manufactured products are produced and maintained to a high standard. Quality control requires companies to create an environment where management and employees strive for perfection. This is done by training personnel, creating product quality benchmarks, and testing products for 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:statistically significant variations.

QC requires the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:establishꦿment of well-defined con☂trols to h𒉰elp standardize production 🐼and reactions to quality issues.

Understanding Quality Control (QC)

Creating a product is costly, time-consuming, and can be unsafe without controls in place. A company that puts defective products on the market may be held liable for injuries or issues that arise from using its products. Quality control inspectors ensure that 澳洲幸▨运5开奖号码历史查询:defective or unsafe products are identifi🐼ed, and that the causes are corrected.

Quality ꦗcontrol involves testing units and determining if they are within the specifications for the final product. Testing is done to determine if there is any need for corrective actions in the m🀅anufacturing process. Good quality control helps companies meet consumer demands for better products.

Quality testing is generally completed in each step of a 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:manufacturing or business process. Employees often begin by testing 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:raw materials, pulling samples from the manufacturing line, and testing the🙈 finished product. Testing at various 🌃manufacturing stages helps identify where a production problem occurs and the remedial steps required to prevent it in the future.

In a nonmanufacturing business, quality testing can involve 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:customer service evaluations, questionnaires, surveys, inspections, or audits. A business can use a𝕴ny process or method to verify that its end product or service mܫeets the customer’s needs and is safe and legal.

How Quality Controls Differ by Industry

QC used in a business is highly dependent on the product or industry. There may be di൩fferent processes and regulations that app🅠ly. For example:

• Quality control in food and drug manufacturing includes ensuring the product does not make a consumer sick, so the company performs chemical and microbiological testing of samples from the production or 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:assembly line.
• In automobile manufacturing, quality control focuses on parts meeting specifications and tolerances. QC ensures engines, drivetrains, and other mechanical parts operate smoothly, efficiently, safely, and as designed.
• In electronics, quality testing might involve using meters that measure the flow of electricity and 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:stress testing.
• In aircraft manufacturing, quality control is extremely important. Manufacturers must document, track, inspect, and reinspect all items and phases of a build to build evidence that everything is completed to very strict standards.

Quality Control vs. Quality Assurance

Quality control and quality assurance (QA) are terms often used to define the same thing, but there are distinct differences. Quality control focuses on quality requirements, such as ensuring a part meets specifications. Quality assurance, on the other hand, refers to the sum of all actions and processes needed to demonstrate that qu꧋ality requirements are fulfilled.

What this difference means for quality professionals is that as you move through a quality control career, you might transition from quality control to quality assurance. Quality control is part of quality assurance, which consists of programs and departments that assure upper-level management, customers, and government inspectors that products meet all quality 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:requirements and safety standards.

Quality Control Methods

There are several methods quality control uses to communicate and track inspections and issues. For instance, a 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:quality control chart is ꦉa graphic that depicts whether sampled products or processes are mee𓆏ting their intended specifications—and, if not, the degree by which they vary from those specifications.

When one chart analyzes a specific product attribute, it is called a univariate chart. A chart that measures variances in several product attributes is cal🔯led a multivariate chart. Tracking variances allows businesses to see how many defects per production unit they produce and what types of defects are occurring. Here are a few examples of some methods used.

X-bar Chart

Randomly selected products are tested for the given attributes the chart 🌳is tracking. A common form of a quality control chart is the X-bar chart, where the y-axis on the graph tracks the degree to which the variance of the tested attribute is acceptable. The x-axis tracks the samples tested. Analyzing the variance pattern on this chart helps you determine if defects are occurring randomly or🐻 systematically.

Taguchi Method

The 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Taguchi method is another approach to quality control that emphasizes the roles of 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:research and development (R&D), product design, and product development in reducing the 🐭occurrence of defects and failures in products. This method considers design more important than the manufacturing process in quality control and tries to eliminate variances in production before they can occur.

100% Inspection Method

This 100% inspection method is a quality control process that looks at and assesses all product parts. This type of quality control is done to rule out flaws in products. It often evaluates valuable metals and calls for data about the manufacturing process and software to analyze 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:inventory.

The challenge of using this method is that looking at every single item used to build a product is expensive and could destabilize or render the product unusable. For example, if you use this method to examine organic strawberries, y🌌ou risk damaging the berries, rendering them unsellable.

Quality Control Careers

Quality control can be a rewardingও career if you enjoy working with people, communicating, presenting results, and working to make products better and safer. Here’s what you may need to become one.

Requirements

To become a quality control inspector, you’ll need a high school diploma for entry-level positions and higher education for advanced jobs. Many companies prefer candidates with prior work experience in their industry. It also helps if you’re licensed or certified in your field. For instance, the American Society for Quality offers certification for quality control professionals, which can increase your earning potential.

Other qualities nee🦋ꦬded for quality control professionals are:

• Attention to detail
• Mechanical and math skills
• Physical abilities and strength
• Technical skills
• Performance under pressure

Career Path

The route to a career in quality control and assurance varies by industry, so there may be differences. However, you’ll gene🦹rally need several years of experience in your industry. Typically, you begin by being hired asꦆ a quality assurance or control associate after meeting educational and work experience requirements.

Once you gain work experience, you may move into a senior specialist position and begin managing teams of quality control specialists. You may attend professional development courses sponsored by your employer or be required to gain certifications such as Six Sigma. You might also need to earn a professional designation such as Certified Quality Inspector.

Moving up the career path, you have more options. You may be able to choose from or be selected to be𓂃 a QA systems manager, QA operations manager, or QA compliance manager. These positions can lead up to upper-level management or executive levels within quality control:

• Director of quality
• Head of compliance
• Vice president of quality
  

Quality Control Salaries

The average pay for quality control professionals differs by industry, experience, and position. Pay increases as you gain more experience and move into management positions. As of May 2024, the U.S. 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reports average salaries as:

• Professional, scientific, and technical services: $50,300
• Manufacturing: $48,170
• Wholesale trade: $46,400
• Administrative and support services: $37,490

The Bottom Line

Quality control helps a busin🐠ess ensure its product quality and overall success. The environment influences employees’ attitudes about the workplace and creates a sense of ownership of the products and company. QC can involve training personnel, creating data-driven tools, testing products, and setting standards.

Quality control methods help create a safe work environment and products that are safe to use and meet customer✅s’ needs. Additionally, QC is a rewarding career for someone who enjoys investigating issues and improving outcomes.