A look at the different kinds of manufacturing quality control systems

The quality of your product and the systems that you have in place to ensure a certain level of quality have a great deal of bearing when it comes to assigning a value to the product that you are in the business of selling. If you as a manufacturer are unable to maintain a certain level of quality in your product, your consumers will not have confidence in your product and sales will suffer.

Having the right kind of manufacturing quality control system can mean a great deal of difference to your bottom line. When it comes to quality assurance there are several different methods that can be initiated. These plans and explanations are listed below.

Different types of manufacturing quality control systems to choose from

Of the quality control systems that you will read about below, not all will work optimally with your organization. Feel free to try different quality control systems or a combination of several quality control systems in order to find the methods that best suit the needs of your manufacturing operation.

PDCA quality control system - A PDCA quality control system stands for Plan, Do, Check, and Act. Although this acronym is relatively self explanatory in that you should plan your quality product processes, act on those plans for quality control, check to make sure that your process is working and take the appropriate action to repeat the process by creating a new plan, it is usually easier said than done. Manufacturing companies can be working to perfect their quality control system for many years. Some companies never stop planning and implementing new quality control procedures in the hope of finding the ideal system.
Failure testing - Failure testing involves operating the product in a controlled environment until the product fails. By doing this you can be able to uncover weaknesses in the product that you had not previously anticipated. Encouraging the failure of a product is usually done by simulating regular wear and tear at an accelerated rate. Vibration, exposure to temperature extremes, etc. are all methods used to exhaust the product prematurely. After weaknesses are found improvements can be made. Often times it is the simple improvements that can greatly increase the quality of the product.
Statistical control - Statistical control involves the random sampling of products and the plotting of their performance on a graph. If the plotted graph stays within six standard deviations the product is generally performing at the expected levels. If not, it is assumed that the sample represents the product line as a whole and that there are issues of inferior quality present. For this reason, statistical controls are put in place during the production phase of the product. This system is designed to find errors before the products are distributed so that corrections can be made prior to the public receiving the product.
Company quality - Company quality differs from other typed of manufacturing quality control systems because the emphasis for quality control is on the people or departments making the products, as opposed to the product itself. Focusing on the management and the employees that are working at the manufacturing plant can translate into a better quality product. Not only does proper training ensure that a product is created correctly, but efforts to improve the working environment and moral of employees has direct correlations to the resulting product. In addition to having happy employees making high quality products, a pleasant working environment also encourages the suggestions and ideas of the employees in regards to employees. After all, few people know the workings of a product better than the individuals who spend all day working on them.

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A look at the different kinds of manufacturing quality control systems