Quality Inspection

Quality Inspection

quality inspection
quality inspection
quality control inspection video

What is Quality Inspection?

Quality Inspection is an activity of checking, measuring, or testing one or more product or service characteristics and comparing the results with the specific requirements to confirm compliance. An efficient inspection process standardizes quality, eliminates paper documents, and increases efficiencies on the floor.

One of the fundamental pillars of achieving continuous improvement is the quality inspection process. Depending upon where the product is in the manufacturing lifecycle, criteria-based inspection plans enable meeting specific regulatory requirements and workflows. Online visibility and real-time monitoring of incoming parts, raw materials, and sub-units are important for successful inspections.

An effective quality management solution can streamline inspection-related processes within your organization such as receiving, in-process, shipment, and product returns, and thus deliver a unified view of inspection criteria and results to the company personnel.

Request an Online Demo

Related Assets

Quality Inspection vs. Quality Control

Quality Inspection is concerned with the post-production check of products. It doesn’t have a direct influence on the production process. Quality inspector checks the products so that no poor-quality products leave the factory. As there is no feedback loop in quality inspection, information about failures and their causes is not moved to workers or managers. As a result, this system cannot improve itself.

Quality Control is the process of verification or correction of the product quality where there is a direct link between quality inspectors and workers. Based on the test results, good products can be distinguished from the bad ones along with finding the cause of problems. The results are sent to managers as well as workers to improve the process. Quality control is a feedback loop system so when the information is passed to workers, they try to improve their work without changing the system or product.

quality inspection vs. quality control inspection
quality inspection importance

The Importance of Quality Inspection

It is essential for a company that the product quality is maintained when delivering it to the customers since product quality is the ultimate driver for the success of a company. Quality inspection determines and verifies the quality level of the products to ensure that the results of the manufacturing process are the same as expected. Quality inspection is done to reveal the product faults and inform the management team to make a decision to allow or deny product release. Quality inspection during the product manufacturing process ensures standardization and uniformity for controlling the product quality by comparing it with the standards and specifications. Quality inspection also controls quality, reduces manufacturing costs and rejection losses, and assigns causes for the production of a defective product.

robust quality control

Robust Quality Control: How Intelligent Automation of Nonconformance, Equipment and Inspection Management Processes will Save Time and Costs

The Key Types of Inspections

Quality inspection checks for quality and identifies ways to minimize manufacturing costs, reduce scrap losses and mitigate causes of defective work. There are mainly three types of inspections to check on the quality of products to assure consistent production processes and control systems for ensuring quality and efficacy.

  • Pre-production inspection: Pre-production inspection is vital to decrease the quality risk where the inputs can be inspected prior to the production stage. An experienced inspector takes some random samples and examines those just to make sure that the raw materials meet the particular standards as well as checks whether the development team has clearly communicated with the manufacturing team for the requirements.
  • In-process inspection: In-process inspection occurs when the first product that got out of the line is inspected for conformity. If any kind of issue is raised at this step, the factory can immediately take some corrective actions and avoid delays. This inspection happens as it takes an expert technician to reliably detect errors on unfinished products.
  • Final inspection: Final inspection is also known as pre-shipment inspection where the total quantity of products can be counted, and samples of finished products can be drawn in a truly random manner. This is the most popular quality inspection which takes place once all the products are finished and ready for shipment and the outcomes of final inspections are more reliable.
quality inspection types
leading enterprise manufacturing companies case study

Customer Success

4 Reasons Why YKK Group, the world’s largest zipper manufacturer, and Huhtamaki, a key global provider of sustainable packaging solutions, picked ComplianceQuest to automate its end-to-end Quality & Safety Management Systems.

  • CQ’s Quality and Safety Solution is designed for easy collaboration among various stakeholders
  • It enables quick, agile data-driven decision-making by quality and safety leaders
  • CQ’s AI and automation features saved time for the quality team, resulting in increased productivity
  • With world-class dashboards and reports, it was easy to track quality KPIs with just a few clicks

If you’d like to learn more about how these companies use CQ, download this Case Study:

leading enterprise manufacturing companies case study
Read Quality & Safety Customer Success Story E-book
importance of quality control inspection checklist

The Importance of an Inspection Checklist

The inspection checklist includes all the details covering areas like verifying physical requirements, proper packaging and labelling, functional testing, and carton drop tests.

Inspection checklists can be very helpful in the workplace because it can keep people organized and engaged and employees also will feel more confident in machinery and safety procedures knowing that they are inspected regularly. Largely, checklists can prevent indefinite inspections. It provides step-by-step methods for analyzing workspaces, equipment, and tasks. Once the inspection is conducted using your checklist, the inspector will highlight the findings in an inspection report.

Inspections vs. Audits vs. Lab Tests: What’s the Difference?

Inspections are a review of a particular product or service while audits deal with a more thorough examination of the entire process such as the one for building the product or service. Usually, quality inspections identify potential areas of problems or impending accidents while audits address the root causes of these problems. These critical processes will help in streamlining and maximizing value for your organization.

Lab tests are another way to eliminate the risk of non-conforming outcomes. They can control the product quality by checking the raw materials that are going into your product as well as confirming whether they have hazardous chemicals that infringe regulations or create safety risks. It safeguards the reliability, accuracy, and convenience of lab results by ensuring the early detection of results or error measurement to rectify them.

inspection vs. audit vs. lab test

ComplianceQuest enhances your company’s Quality Management

ComplianceQuest will provide your company with the opportunity to reach a new level of Quality Management. Everything from the well thought out and configured out of the box solution, to the system validation scripts, tractability matrix and end user guides, ComplianceQuest sets the standards high! Their customer service is superb, their employees are dedicated to the success of your project and learning about your company to ensure appropriate and effective solutions are provided. All quality leaders at Aphria Inc. have been very pleased and excited to launch all the capabilities ComplianceQuest has to offer to ensure quality remains our highest priority!

Amy McCrindle,
Project Manager

tilray testimonial
tilray testimonial

Why should quality and safety leaders automate the process of Inspection Management?

Quality leaders are looking to avoid product recalls, reduce the cost of quality (CoQ) and ensure customer satisfaction. To ensure this happens, there is a critical need to automate the end-to-end process of conducting inspections with a next-generation solution, like the one offered by ComplianceQuest. With the right automation solution and digital transformation of inspection processes, enterprises can realize the following benefits:

quality inspection scheduling

The process of scheduling and conducting inspections is streamlined

findings and recommendations from quality control inspection

All findings and recommendations from the inspection can be added to the relevant EQMS or EHS solution

quality inspection documentation process

Once the right documentation process is followed, a modern EQMS and EHS solution will help the quality or safety leader collaborate with other team members to implement actions items

quality inspection data track

It’s easy to track data, find information, pull up reports, and run analytics on data gathered from inspections

Click here to learn more about inspection management software.

Standardize the quality and eliminate paper documentation with ComplianceQuest efficient Quality Inspection process

Request an Online Demo


Related Checklists

Quality-centric Companies Rely on CQ QMS

  • affinivax mono
  • verily mono
  • 3m logo mono
  • tupperware mono
  • continental logo mono
  • vyaire mono
  • lifescan mono
  • janssen mono
  • lundbeck mono
  • cdc logo mono
  • qlik mono
  • csa group mono
  • impossible mono
  • fluence mono

Frequently Asked Questions

  • Quality Control Inspectors depend on a number of tools such as hand-held measurement devices like callipers and alignment gauges as well as electronic inspection equipment. Inspectors test electrical devices to test current flow, potential difference, and resistance.

    Quality control inspectors record the results of their inspections and prepare test reports. When they identify defects, inspectors inform supervisors to let them analyze and rectify the production problems. The quality inspection process is absolutely automated in many companies by installing enhanced vision inspection systems at one or various points in the production process. Inspectors in these companies review output, track the equipment, and carry out random product checks.

  • Quality Inspections at several stages of the production process can help you monitor product quality to ensure requirements are being fulfilled and to support timely delivery.

    You can check the product quality to minimize risk, ensure compliance and improve efficiency with regulatory requirements, build a stronger and more resilient business with the potential to grow and surpass your competition and deliver goods that really are as good as customers expect.

    • Cost Reduction: An effective quality inspection system minimizes the cost of production of the product due to decreased wastage of raw-materials, semi-finished and finished goods, large-scale production of standard quality products, and minimum rework cost of the substandard goods.

    • Improvement in the morale of employees: With a quality inspection program, the employees become attentive to quality by understanding the standards of the product well and try to improve them to produce quality goods to the best of their efforts.

    • Utmost Utilization of Resources: By establishing the quality inspection system, the system will also control the misuse of facilities, wastage of all types, and low standard production. Thus, the resource utilization of the organization is maximized.

    • Customer satisfaction: Customers always get quality products of standard specifications to their maximum satisfaction.

    • Decrease variations: The techniques of quality inspection help in the study of the magnitude of variations in product quality and serve as a suitable tool for finding a solution for many manufacturing problems.

  • The objectives of Quality Inspection are as follows:

    • To collect information about product performance with established standards for the use of quality control, product, and purchasing.

    • To correct poor quality of manufactured products and thus to maintain standards.

    • To increase and establish a reputation by delivering only good quality products to customers.

    • Identify the source of failure in the finished products.

  • Did you receive a failed inspection report? If yes, then revise your approach depending on the type of inspection you have performed. Here are some of the most common reasons inspections fail:

    • Quantity Check

    • Inappropriate Labelling

    • Poor Packaging

    • Cosmetic Defects

    • Poor Workmanship

    • Failed Testing

    • Tolerance differences

Astronut

Related Insights

Why Quality Transformation is a Key Aspect of Business Transformation
Blog | September 14th, 2023

Why Quality Transformation is a Key Aspect of Business Transformation

A US-based manufacturer and supplier of packaging materials (blister packaging, bottling, specialized kitting, etc.) to pharmaceutical, OTC, diagnostics, and medical…

View All Resources

Connect with a CQ Expert

Learn about all features of our Product, Quality and Safety suites. Please fill the form below to access our comprehensive demo video.

contact-img

Please confirm your details

In Need of Smarter Ways Forward? Get in Touch.

Get a Demo Today
spinner
Request Demo