What Is Quality Control (QC)?

What Is Quality Control (QC)?

Let me explain to you what quality control, or QC, really is. It's a system that makes sure manufactured products are produced and kept at a high standard. As someone who's looked into this, I can tell you that QC requires companies to build an environment where both management and employees push for perfection. You achieve this by training your personnel, setting benchmarks for product quality, and testing products for any statistically significant variations.

QC means you have to establish well-defined controls to standardize production and how you react to quality issues. That's the core of it.

Key Takeaways

Here's what you need to know right away about QC. It not only ensures that a business's products meet or exceed quality standards but also shapes employees' attitudes and fosters a sense of ownership. QC involves testing units to see if they're within specifications for the final product. The type of quality control you use depends on the product or industry, and there are various techniques for measuring quality. In the food industry, for example, QC methods prevent customers from getting sick. Overall, QC creates safe measures to ensure deficient or damaged products don't reach customers.

Understanding Quality Control (QC)

Creating a product is expensive, time-consuming, and potentially unsafe without proper controls. If a company releases defective products, it could face liability for any injuries or issues that result. That's where quality control inspectors come in—they identify defective or unsafe products and correct the causes.

QC means testing units to check if they meet the specifications for the final product. This testing helps determine if corrective actions are needed in the manufacturing process. Good QC allows companies to meet consumer demands for better products.

Quality testing usually happens at every step of a manufacturing or business process. Employees start by testing raw materials, then pull samples from the production line, and finally test the finished product. Testing at different stages helps pinpoint where problems occur and what remedial steps to take to avoid them in the future.

In nonmanufacturing businesses, quality testing might include customer service evaluations, questionnaires, surveys, inspections, or audits. You can use any process or method to verify that the end product or service meets customer needs and is safe and legal.

Fast Fact

Let me share this with you: Limiting room for error by specifying which production activities are handled by which personnel reduces the chance that employees get involved in tasks they're not adequately trained for.

How Quality Controls Differ by Industry

The QC you use in a business depends heavily on the product or industry, with different processes and regulations applying. For instance, in food and drug manufacturing, QC ensures the product doesn't make consumers sick, so companies perform chemical and microbiological testing on samples from the production line.

In automobile manufacturing, QC focuses on parts meeting specifications and tolerances, ensuring engines, drivetrains, and other mechanical parts operate smoothly, efficiently, safely, and as designed.

In electronics, quality testing might involve meters to measure electricity flow and stress testing. In aircraft manufacturing, QC is critical—you must document, track, inspect, and reinspect all items and phases to prove everything meets strict standards.

Quality Control vs. Quality Assurance

People often mix up quality control and quality assurance, or QA, but there are clear differences. QC focuses on quality requirements, like ensuring a part meets specifications. QA, however, covers all actions and processes needed to show that quality requirements are fulfilled.

For quality professionals, this means you might start in QC and transition to QA as your career progresses. QC is part of QA, which includes programs and departments that assure upper management, customers, and government inspectors that products meet all quality and safety standards.

Quality Control Methods

There are several methods QC uses to communicate and track inspections and issues. A quality control chart, for example, is a graphic that shows if sampled products or processes meet intended specifications and, if not, how much they vary.

When a chart analyzes one product attribute, it's univariate; if it measures variances in several, it's multivariate. Tracking these variances helps businesses see defect rates per unit and types of defects.

X-bar Chart

In an X-bar chart, you test randomly selected products for tracked attributes. The y-axis tracks the acceptable variance degree, and the x-axis tracks samples. Analyzing the pattern helps determine if defects are random or systematic.

Taguchi Method

The Taguchi method emphasizes R&D, product design, and development to reduce defects and failures. It prioritizes design over manufacturing to eliminate production variances before they happen.

100% Inspection Method

This method assesses all product parts to rule out flaws. It often applies to valuable metals and requires manufacturing data and software for inventory analysis. The challenge is it's expensive and could damage or render products unusable, like with organic strawberries.

Important Note

Quality control methods help standardize production and responses to issues across industries, from food to automobile manufacturing.

Quality Control Careers

QC can be a rewarding career if you like working with people, communicating, presenting results, and improving products for safety. To get started, you'll need a high school diploma for entry-level roles, and higher education for advanced ones. Companies prefer candidates with industry experience, and certifications like those from the American Society for Quality can boost your earnings.

Career Path

Your path in QC varies by industry, but you generally need years of experience. You might start as a QA or control associate after meeting requirements. With experience, you could manage teams as a senior specialist. You may need certifications like Six Sigma or Certified Quality Inspector. Higher up, you could become a QA systems manager, operations manager, or compliance manager, leading to roles like director of quality, head of compliance, or vice president of quality.

Quality Control Salaries

Salaries for QC professionals vary by industry, experience, and position, increasing with experience and management roles. As of May 2024, BLS reports averages like $50,300 in professional services, $48,170 in manufacturing, $46,400 in wholesale trade, and $37,490 in administrative services.

What Does a Quality Control Inspector Do?

A QC inspector audits and evaluates manufacturing and operational processes by monitoring products from raw materials to finished goods to ensure they meet the highest standards before market release.

Why Is Quality Control Important?

QC prevents defective goods from reaching the public. Companies with QC have attentive employees. In food and drugs, it avoids sickness; in manufacturing, it prevents accidents.

What Are 3 Examples of Quality Control?

In the food industry, examples include overseeing ingredient specifications, reviewing supplier lists, and ensuring facility sanitation.

When Does Quality Control Go Wrong?

QC fails without clear standards, protocols, employee training, or prompt issue resolution.

The Bottom Line

Quality control ensures product quality and business success. It influences employee attitudes and ownership. QC involves training, tools, testing, and standards. It creates safe environments and products that meet needs. Plus, it's a career for those who enjoy problem-solving and improvements.