Quality Control Inspection Checklist

Quality Control Inspection Checklist: Also referred to as a production inspection checklist, this tool is essential for checking the quality of your work. By utilizing this manufacturing QC checklist, you can ensure that every aspect of your production process meets or exceeds expectations. This checklist allows you to monitor every stage of the workflow, from planning to delivery, and assess progress. Additionally, you can compile a comprehensive QA list that outlines all items to be verified at each production stage, providing a clear view of your production turnaround progress. It is crucial to include an "unnesting" step in your workflow, where all components are completed and ready for testing before being dispatched to their final destination. Like any effective checklist, this one aids in identifying and addressing potential issues early, preventing them from escalating into significant problems later on.

What is a product inspection?

It’s not just a “checklist” that someone else wrote out, it is the basis of a critical quality check. If a product is being produced as advertised, it should adhere to specific standards to ensure customers are getting a fully functioning product.

Let's say, for example, we have an industrial automation system which will automate many different tasks. This system is designed to manage the lights, monitoring temperatures and humidity levels. The product is sold to have associated benefits of automation. So, a customer would brighter lights in the morning and dimmer lights when they are less needed. If the system incorrectly does the opposite of what's intended, a customer could get very frustrated. If the directions are difficult to understand, the customer may make a mistake setting it up, thinking that the product doesn't function as intended. If a customer needs to fix your product just to get it started, you will then have a frustrated customer sharing negative comments about your product, causing fewer sales and increased returns.

It is important to make sure that there are no errors or omissions when customers build our automated systems:

All functions should be well documented
The documentation should state where each function is located and what each function does
The documentation should mention how long it took to build each function

For quality control inspections in this example, these items would be important:

A simple qc checklist of what needs to be done before the system runs smoothly
A list of things that can go wrong with our systems so that we can write tests for them

It would impossible for us to test every possible scenario with every possible function in every installed system. Even if it were possible, a quality inspector would only select approximately half to test. Having a method of identifying standard issues with our products would be the ideal scenario. That way, the manufacturer can resolve any issues before final production. To perform this optimally requires a good knowledge of software development practices:

Writing code and testing code
Maintaining software systems
Developing processes (e.g., how software gets developed)
Using software tools
Understanding how software is written by others
Using metrics and analytics
Using formal methods (i.e., logical reasoning)
Using requirements documents
Using design patterns
Using an iteration model or approach
Performinguser studies

This would be considered the early stage in our product development process so this isn’t yet part of our final product,

How to choose a reputable product inspector?

There is a common myth about quality control and inspectors. Many companies think that if they hire someone to do inspections, then inspectors will make sure that everything is perfect. In reality, there are two types of quality control:

Checking for defects, and
Checking for functionality

Inspectors should be able to do both equally well. The most important thing is to hire an manufacturing inspector who has the right skills to be able to do the qc inspection with precision. They also need to understand how to communicate with the customer.