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What are the Different Kinds of Quality Control Techniques?

Jeany Miller
Jeany Miller

Many companies that manufacture products or offer services implement a standard for quality control. This is likely a way to monitor whether products meet specifications and services are satisfactory. Quality control techniques, therefore, may vary depending upon the intended measurement. Some methods of quality control include failure testing, acceptance sampling, statistical process control and analytical quality control. Company-wide quality control, software packages and customer surveys are additional tools that may be used.

Quality control is often performed by a team of professionals who use specific measurement techniques. These measures often provide information relative to a product or service to ensure it meets specifications. Without quality control techniques, a company would likely rely on standard processes without knowledge of how well they're performing.

Quality assurance technicians should have a strong understanding of the industry in which they work.
Quality assurance technicians should have a strong understanding of the industry in which they work.

One of the quality control techniques that may be employed by manufacturers is failure testing. This method typically puts the final product under a series of tests that determine when and how failures may occur. A set of variables, such as temperature or pressure, may be applied to reveal the product’s weaknesses. In turn, members of the quality control team may be able to modify the product and improve points of failure before customer delivery.

Customer surveys offer one type of quality control technique.
Customer surveys offer one type of quality control technique.

Statistical quality control is a broad term that often describes probability tools used by quality professionals. For example, a company may use acceptance sampling to determine if a group of products is acceptable. The quality control manager often inspects a random sample of goods to determine quality levels of the entire lot. Based on the inspection results, the lot may then be accepted or rejected.

In the pharmaceutical industry, quality control may involve inspecting the final product.
In the pharmaceutical industry, quality control may involve inspecting the final product.

Statistical process control (SPC) involves similar probability methods as those of acceptance sampling. With SPC, a sample of the product is often tested to determine the success of the output process. This method does not provide quality answers with regard to the product, but rather to the method of production. For instance, product characteristics may need to meet customer specifications, and if they do not, the problem may relate to production techniques. SPC often allows the quality control team to adjust processes before goods are manufactured.

Quality control is performed by professionals who use specific measurement techniques.
Quality control is performed by professionals who use specific measurement techniques.

While quality control often relates to an end-product, procedures may also be needed to monitor the actual quality measurements. Such quality control techniques are often known as analytical quality control. Both technological competence and workforce intelligence may be gauged with these standards. For example, one employee may deem a product as acceptable because it meets specifications, but another may argue that its failure points are outside the intended ranges. Analytical quality control often works to safeguard the ways in which quality is measured and how control techniques are used.

Quality control techniques can be used to improve products within a division or an entire organization.
Quality control techniques can be used to improve products within a division or an entire organization.

In some instances, managing quality control requires company-wide participation. This often means all aspects of the organization are under scrutiny, not just the manufacturing or production segments. Managers may employ this method to ensure operations as a whole function appropriately. With company quality control, principles that are likely to influence the end-product include employee performance, data management and customer service.

Not all quality control techniques are performed manually. Some companies utilize software for quality control that often provides a visual interpretation of data. In addition, some software programs may point to alarming statistics or produce reports for a given period of time. Information related to production efficiency, product maintenance and failure occurrences may also be accessible with some software platforms. These packages often connect to existing quality measurement devices, which may allow the quality control technician to use the software for daily tasks.

Measuring the quality of a product is often tangible, with real and comparable data results. In the service industry, however, customer satisfaction is often the only way to gauge success. This sector may thus employ quality control techniques that provide information about the client’s experience. Surveys and questionnaires are often used to obtain such feedback and also identify areas of improvement.

Discussion Comments

KoiwiGal

Quality control is important for even small businesses to consider. I've worked with artisans in developing countries and this was one of the fundamental things they often need to learn. Even if you are selling something that is handmade and cannot be exactly the same each time, it needs to be close enough that the customer knows they can trust your work.

If your work looks haphazard that's a big red sign that you haven't given enough attention to detail. It also makes it difficult to sell bulk orders, because shops need items that are roughly the same.

indigomoth

@pastanaga - I think that they put those rules in place because it is impossible to completely remove the possibility that an insect might make its way into a factory and end up in a product. Particularly when many final products are made up of a lot of different ingredients.

But those are FDA rules I think. That's not exactly the same as the quality management of the factory itself, which might have a higher standard even if they have to work within the guidelines of the FDA.

It's the same with any products.

They will all have a government body supervising them to ensure customer safety, but they can always go above and beyond the bare minimum with their own guidelines.

pastanaga

I've heard some pretty gross things about food quality control, although I'm not sure how many of them are true. One, for example, is that it's perfectly legal to include certain amounts of insect parts per kilo of finished product. They think it's simply inevitable and therefore shouldn't be banned unless it actually harms the customer. The quality control process allows for the food to contain extra bits like this.

I can kind of see their point, but it also annoys me. If I'm going to be eating what basically amounts to artificial food, I should at least be getting clean food. If I wanted to eat insect parts I would live off an organic diet.

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    • Quality assurance technicians should have a strong understanding of the industry in which they work.
      By: RGtimeline
      Quality assurance technicians should have a strong understanding of the industry in which they work.
    • Customer surveys offer one type of quality control technique.
      By: Battrick
      Customer surveys offer one type of quality control technique.
    • In the pharmaceutical industry, quality control may involve inspecting the final product.
      By: RGtimeline
      In the pharmaceutical industry, quality control may involve inspecting the final product.
    • Quality control is performed by professionals who use specific measurement techniques.
      By: Lisa F. Young
      Quality control is performed by professionals who use specific measurement techniques.
    • Quality control techniques can be used to improve products within a division or an entire organization.
      By: Lisa F. Young
      Quality control techniques can be used to improve products within a division or an entire organization.