What Makes Quality Inspection Different from Quality Control?
There are many ways that quality inspection or QI and Quality Control or QC differ, even though it is very subtle. These processes do not only benefit the marketing sector but it also benefits other sectors.
At the end of the manufacturing process, quality inspection is performed. The basis for quality inspection include tools, testing, and standards of the most demanding customers. Quality issues are being identified by QI after which they inform the managers who are accountable and advise them on how to solve the problem.
In Quality control or QC, products are created and subjected to QI afterward. In QC, errors, and issues are identified and corrected during the development and manufacturing process. A company with core value and goal of producing quality products, then there will be a great success with QC.
QI and QC are not simple processes. QI detects problems with the finished product. It is an inspector, a manager, a third-party testing service, or the customers who do QI.
For food processing facilities, for example, poor quality items are not allowed to reach the market so they are set aside by QI. If goods are rejected, then some of them are recycled. There are checklists, visual guides, chemical testing, and other tools used to sort poor quality products from good products in a fast way.
In QC, if products are wrong during the process, then they are take out. The work of QC is before inspection which helps to reduce the work of QI. The main focus of QC is to find and fix sources of error, malfunction, or weakness.
Since feedback is king, the ideal QC seeks to reduce or eliminate QI by correcting things at the point of failure. In order to find problems and repair or reconfigure the process, there is inspection done of all process points. Tools, talent, materials, machines, or even temperature and lighting at the work station are the sources of problems. High-volume and high-quality feedback is needed from QI if QC is to perform well.
Most business used to isolate the QC and QI functions. There is more interaction today between QI and QC where QI provides QC with important data so that businesses are free of error.
QI is done before shipping the products. If QI testing is limited to just a segment of the products, then shipment delays can be avoided. And they assume that this represents a statistically-sound sample. This sample is checked for workmanship, safety, functionality, and performance before delivery. Those who purchase these products also help in the process by inspecting deliveries as they arrive for their own set of standards. The management of the supply chain is improved through customer feedback. Business owners must weigh the cost of inspection against the value of the produced well. SafetyChain is a food quality management software that can help businesses manage the costs and the processes.