4 Savvy Ways to Improve Quality Control at a Manufacturer

For busy manufacturing companies that want to stay competitive in a volatile economy or even a stable one, it’s imperative to constantly be on the lookout for creative ways to achieve and maintain excellent quality standards. It’s an authentic case of multitasking, only at the company level. That’s because comprehensive quality control leads directly to great results, like waste minimization, customer satisfaction, and meeting manufacturing standards.

There are four powerful ways to implement strategies that can boost the entire quality control process. In addition to statistical process control, savvy managers can employ tactics like integrated robotics, advanced worker training, and identifying the best suppliers. Here are the details.

1- Use Statistical Process Control (SPC)

To get manufacturing processes up to their full potential, supervisors can employ SPC, a technique that relies on statistical methods to not only monitor but also control the company’s production processes. The method focuses on gathering and studying information from multiple points in the production line.

The goal is to identify all deviations from the norm. A core benefit of SPC is that it serves as an early warning system. That way, managers don’t have to wait until the end of a given process to spot defects. SPC also helps keep production costs low.

2- Integrate Robotics Into the System

The newest wave of robotics technology can have a profound impact on a company’s overall product quality. In short, the entire robotics trend has already delivered a huge increase in consistency and precision at levels that would be impossible for a human-only system to achieve.

One of the prominent advantages of a robot is that it can perform highly repetitive tasks for extremely long time spans without a break. At the same time, robotic production systems minimize errors, speed up the manufacturing process, and need little supervision.

3- Offer Advanced Training for Employees

Even in environments where automated systems perform the bulk of production labor, it’s still essential to optimize quality by investing in worker training and education. Not only does top-notch training create a skilled workforce, but it also enhances the general morale and job satisfaction of employees.

Production workers, even those who oversee robotic systems, are in the best possible location to spot irregularities and glitches, which is why is so crucial to arm them with the latest knowledge and skills. To that end, owners and managers should structure training programs so that they teach not only quality control tactics but also operational skills. It makes sense to reward or at least recognize employees who find potential defects or errors.

4- Focus on the Quality of Suppliers

When focusing on production systems, worker training, and robotics, it’s easy to overlook a critical input to the process: supply. High-quality raw materials and other supplies play a major role in the quality of the final product. It’s important to hold your suppliers to the same standards the company imposes on in-house systems, processes, and materials. The solution is to implement a comprehensive SQM (supplier quality management) program in order to keep quality consistent from beginning to end.