Quality Assurance

CHAPTER 4

Quality Assurance / Quality Control

Quality means that the product or service "meets the standards" set by either the manufacturer or the consumer. Quality does not necessarily mean flawless product or service. Nor does it mean the most expensive product in its class. Quality products perform as "expected".

A quality plan and procedure for operation is prepared before beginning any job to determine, in what sequence the job should be done, using what kind of material, by whom, when, where and how inspection should be carried out on the work in progress, the acceptance standard and criteria etc.,

Work is started only after approval of the plan and performed strictly as per the plan. Necessary checks are carried out as specified in the plan to determine whether the product conforms to the acceptable norms or otherwise. If found "not acceptable", efforts are made to identify the source of problem to avoid repetition of errors and control measures are effected. Further checks and controls are applied until satisfactory results are obtained.

The point to be noted here is that Quality of a product cannot be improved by improving the standard of inspection but can be done only by improving work methods and procedure