When we talk about quality assurance or total quality management, we are not talking about the efficiency in processes only. In fact, the concept of total quality management or industrial quality control means that the industry is being run on best practices identified and further improved for operational proceedings. The industrial quality control standards vary depending on the industry they are being applied to, for example, construction project management is different than the manufacturing industry. This blog will explain the basics of industrial quality control practices and the significance they have earned over time.
Before fully explaining how quality control works, it is important to first clarify what quality control is. Quality control is defined as a set of tools, actions, and mechanisms that are carried out by specialized personnel, in order to find various errors in different industrial systems. Quality control is primarily responsible for ensuring that products and services like architectural metal fabrication has minimum quality requirements as they are being processed at the industrial level.
Quality control was created to identify and eliminate any mistakes or errors during the manufacturing process. In turn, to carry out the quality control of a service or product, sampling tests and inspections must be carried out; to check the optimal characteristics. Furthermore, the quality control process helps in emergency situations when a disaster occurs, for example, emergency oilfield repair is easier to do when the quality control standards are defined and followed.
Quality Control Processes
In order for clients to receive what a business promises, it is important to perform quality control. Therefore, the steps one must follow to carry it out are:
Obtain the commitment of senior managers and human resources: to carry out effective quality control, commitment and dedication is required from all team members. To do this, they must inform everyone what they want to do, and get down to work to offer the customer the best possible outcome.
Recognize customer expectations: study customer needs, know what they want from their company and how they can meet their needs with the services or products that their industry provides.
Determine best practices: decide how to evaluate the quality of the products that they will choose, either through models, standards or manuals that are paid or free, and that adapt to the business sector that they are working on. One of the tips regarding this step is to seek specialized help.
Designate a person in charge: if you want to achieve effective quality control, you must choose a leader to take charge of this process. To do this, you must take into account that this person, department or group is highly working, committed and passionate about their work.
Make the initial diagnosis: before performing quality control one must first study how the quality of their company’s products is operating currently. For this step, they can use surveys, questionnaires or interviews.
Write the quality manual: once the previous steps have been carried out, the company will now establish the decisions and commitments that will be carried out to evaluate the quality of the products.
Write the procedure manual: once the pertinent decisions have been taken to carry out the evaluation of the products, they must now establish how the decisions made previously will be fulfilled.
Establish quality records: systematize all the records of the sectors and processes to carry out the diagnoses.
Perform periodic audits: diagnose where the company is failing regarding the quality of its products and where corrections must be made to obtain the quality that is sought.
Cost of Quality Control at Industrial Level
To achieve total quality management or industrial quality control there are certain quality costs that are not visible in the income statement of those companies that ignore quality, although they can be very high. Therefore, it is essential to identify and measure them in order to become aware of the problem, and thus approve all investments that must be developed to reduce them.
In general, quality control can be broken down into 3 main categories
- Management Attitude
- Treatment of the Problem
- Actions for Improving Quality
Considering the same, there are several steps of action, which are mentioned below:
- Uncertainty
- Wake
- Illumination
- Wisdom
- Certainty
Analysis of Quality Control Costs
The analysis of quality costs is increasingly important in business management focused on the search for continuous improvement of competitiveness, within the exponential change of the environment and market globalization.
To maintain good economic performance, organizations need to use increasingly efficient quality systems, aimed at minimizing losses, reprocesses, returns and complaints, preventing errors and meeting customer requirements within a framework of productivity, cost and time, which guarantees profits.
The quality costs constitute the part of the economic aspects of the quality that considers the expenses incurred in obtaining and assuring satisfactory quality, as well as, the losses produced when it is not obtained, allowing to evaluate the utility and efficiency of the system of quality management and identify the areas that need attention, and as a consequence, establish the basis for the process of continuous improvement.
Quality costs have traditionally been calculated alongside production costs. Its separation and quantification allow us to demonstrate how improving quality improves the economy of a company. To carry out the analysis, a procedure is introduced that includes the activities related to quality carried out by the different areas of the company, in addition to the associated records that provide the necessary information for the calculation of said costs and their corresponding analysis.
