Quality Control

UNDERSTANDING QUALITY CONTROL

    ➢ Quality Control is a process by which entities review the quality of all factors involved in production.   This approach places emphasis on three aspects:
        o Elements such as controls, job management, defined and well managed processes, performance and integrity criteria, and identification of records
        o Competence, such as knowledge, skills, experience, and qualifications
        o Soft elements, such as personnel integrity, confidence, organizational culture, motivation, team spirit, and quality relationships
The quality of the outputs is at risk if any of these three aspects is deficient in any way.
    ➢ Quality control is a major component of total quality management; and the quality-control cycle consists of four steps: quality planning, data collection, data analysis, and implementation.
        o Quality planning consists of defining measurable quality objectives. Quality objectives are specific to the product or service and to the phase in their life cycle, and they should reflect the customer's requirements
        o The collection of data about product characteristics that are relevant to the quality objectives is a key element of quality control. These data include quantitative measurements (measurement by variables), as well as determination of compliance with given standards, specifications, and required product features (measurement by attributes). Measurements may be objective, that is, of physical characteristics, which are often used in the control of the quality of services. Since quality control was originally developed for mass manufacturing, which relied on division of labor, measurements were often done by a separate department. However, in the culture of Total Quality Management, inspection is often done by the same individual or team producing the item.
        o The data are analyzed in order to identify situations that may have an adverse effect on quality and may require... [continues]

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