Quality has become the industry differentiating factor for almost all goods and services due to the high level of competition. Quality management is critical to establishing a successful company that produces goods that meet or exceed customer expectations. It’s also the foundation of a productive, waste-free sector.
A quality management system based on a known standard, such as the ISO 9001, offers a solid framework for identifying a broad variety of marketing and operational rewards. Manufacturing companies use two approaches, quality control and quality assurance, to preserve or improve the quality of their offerings. These two activities ensure that the final product or service meets the product’s or provider’s quality specifications and standards.
Let’s have a look at quality control through some of its benefits, ways that it has been wrongfully implemented, and the relation it has with quality assurance in the manufacturing industry.
How Quality Control Benefits Manufacturing
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High-quality goods are expected and demanded by customers. When consumers receive high-quality goods, your business will:
- Boost customer retention
- Increase your chances of repeated purchases.
- Maintain or boost your marketplace.
- Enhance security
- Liability risks are reduced.
- Contribute to the product’s overall positive branding
Manufacturers that implement quality management policies are much less likely to face product recalls or put consumers at risk as a result of shoddy workmanship. The cost of these recalls may be substantial.
Wrongful Implementations of Quality Control in Manufacturing
Manufacturing quality control can be challenging. It is frequently done at the end of the manufacturing process, catching errors after the fact. Quality management should be more active and include two levels:
- Operators keep a close eye on the production process and ensure that it runs smoothly. Engineers inspect the product specification for flaws on a regular basis. When an issue is discovered, it is addressed right away.
- Companies can solve issues more effectively and save time and money by tracking goods at the end of production and updating their design.
Quality Assurance
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Quality assurance is a mechanism designed to show business executives and the general public that a product or service meets quality requirements, which are often set by industry or regulatory bodies/councils.
Quality assurance is now used to assess the requirements that go into a product or service before it is released to the general public. Quality assurance employs auditors, some of whom are autonomous and some who work for the company, to assess the processes used to create products and provide services.
How Quality Assurance Benefits Manufacturing
Quality assurance aids an organization in meeting the needs and desires of its customers. Customer confidence is built through high quality, which makes you more competitive. It saves money and solves problems before they become bigger, and it aids in the establishment and maintenance of quality levels by avoiding problems in the first place.
In today’s world, quality assurance is critical in many industries. When it’s in place from the beginning, it’s the most powerful. When quality assurance is performed correctly, it instills trust, checks the product, and allows businesses to sell their goods without fear.
Quality Assurance in Collaboration with Quality Control
Quality assurance helps in streamlining manufacturing and ensuring that the finished goods follow the company’s quality standards. It ensures that the processes for designing, testing, and manufacturing products are carried out correctly. Quality assurance frameworks, such as ISO 9001, aid in the management and improvement of many procedures in manufacturing, including:
- Purchasing of raw materials
- Purchasing parts and sub-assemblies from third parties
- Creating and implementing inspection procedures
- Observing manufacturing procedures
- Taking action in response to flaws
Quality assurance is unique to each business. ISO 9001 gives you the tools you need to build a long-term quality assurance program that ensures the best quality in everything from natural resources to inspection protocols.
Quality Assurance, Quality Control, and Lean Manufacturing
The aim of lean manufacturing tools is to improve quality and safety while raising productivity and income. The following are some effective lean manufacturing tools that can help you improve your quality system:
- By reducing downtime, errors, and injuries, TPM increases product quality. TPM does this by implementing robust maintenance plans and providing operator training.
- Kaizen empowers staff to discover and solve issues on a regular basis, which helps to eradicate problems at their root.
- 5S aids in the organization and standardization of the workplace. Take command with Graphic Products’ 5S System Best Practice Guide. In your plant, improve processes and remove errors.
Although each facility’s needs are unique and can necessitate the use of a different lean tool, using lean to support quality management is critical. Procedures will be streamlined, and there will be fewer mistakes.
Proper Implementation of Quality Control in Manufacturing
Establish and document the quality management strategy before implementing an efficient quality control program. This includes the following:
- Identifying each product’s quality requirements
- Choosing a form of quality management
- Choosing the number of items or batches to be reviewed
- Educate quality management staff.
- Developing a framework for reporting faults or possible problems.
Conclusion
Quality control and Quality assurance might be an annoying thing, especially for product engineers. However, it works to ensure consumer products remain at a premium standard. As players in manufacturing you require quality control and quality assurance to keep all products free from defects. However, you do require tools and equipment to do so.
For oil and gas, LNG gas, petrochemicals, chemicals, etc. manufacturing companies, all relevant documentation exists to your benefit. For your fluid control needs we recommend you access the trunnion ball valve drawing to guide you on how you can use the equipment after purchase. Also, it does come with the proper documentation to prove that it meets the ISO standards.
