Think of the amount of work required to transform a car from a random collection of assorted parts into the assembled entity that it is when it reaches the end of a production line. Cars don’t just spontaneously appear. There are a multitude of pieces that have to be put together in order to create a safe and efficient machine—and there are many steps set in place to transform these pieces into the complete vehicle that rolls out of a factory and onto the road.
However, this process does not always go according to plan. And due to the amount of product recalls in the automobile industry as of late—such as the 12, 569 Ford vehicles recently discovered to have defective child locks—it is appropriate to use the car as an example of how manufacturing quality control is an essential part in preventing dangerous and costly setbacks.
Manufacturing quality control can be defined as the oversight of aspects of the manufacturing production. The goal of implementing manufacturing quality control is to produce products that conform to industry, company and consumer expectations, every time. This system monitors everything from the parts that are manufactured to the employees that put them together.
When such tactics are utilized, the end result is the maximum efficiency of the designed product. Everyone from a plant floor worker to an engineer to an operator becomes an integral part of the process as that individual is responsible for monitoring data and reporting it back to a central executive hub. Manufacturing quality control procedures transform a factory into a transparent machine that can be analyzed and tweaked according to what is needed.
As the U.S. prepares for a potential manufacturing comeback, its success or failure will be determined by the ability to produce products that are of sound quality while minimizing costs and maximizing efficiency. And manufacturing quality control procedures will be the oversight needed to get us there.