Revolutionising Quality Control in Manufacturing Companies

Revolutionising Quality Control in Manufacturing Companies

Digital quality control offers significant advantages over traditional paper-based checklists in manufacturing companies. By embracing digital solutions, companies can effectively minimise three key quality risks: human error, lack of real-time visibility, and inefficient data analysis.

The transition from static inspection documentation to dynamic digital platforms not only enhances accuracy and reliability but also enables instant access to critical information, empowering businesses to make proactive decisions and drive continuous improvement in their quality management processes.

The top 3 quality risks when it comes to static documentation:

1. Minimising Unrecognised Deficiencies:

Checklists created in Microsoft Word or Excel often lack intuitiveness, leading to potential misunderstandings, particularly among inexperienced employees. Furthermore, there is a risk of overlooking inspection steps, especially if an employee completes the checklist after the actual quality inspection, assuming they are well-versed in the process. This risk is particularly pronounced in maximum lists used for variant quality inspections, as employees must either possess prior knowledge or refer to external sources to determine the necessary inspection steps for each variant. The repercussions of misunderstandings and omitted test steps can result in undetected defects. If these defects are only identified during the final inspection, just before the goods are dispatched to customers, it leads to rework and potential delivery delays. In the worst-case scenario, the defects go unnoticed, leading to customers receiving subpar quality and subsequent complaints, thereby incurring additional costs.

2. Unfinished Defect Description:

When quality inspectors manually complete printed checklists, they face limitations in providing detailed information. The available space restricts their ability to describe findings thoroughly, and including pictures or videos requires extra effort or is just not possible at all. Additionally, the small text fields hinder the employee's ability to provide a comprehensive account of the identified defect. As a result, there is often a need to conduct follow-up interviews with the employee or even repeat the test to fully comprehend the reasons behind or the magnitude of the discovered defect.

3. Reduce Falsified Conclusions:

Involving manually transcribed handwritten checklists, often leads to errors. Illegible entries present a risk of inaccurate transcription. When these transmission errors accumulate, the analysis and evaluation of the quality inspection become unreliable, leading to the possibility of drawing incorrect conclusions.

The top 3 advantages of digital documentation:

1. Developing user-friendly checklists:

The utilisation of images and videos simplifies the explanation of test steps, making them easily comprehensible. Mandatory fields guarantee that employees complete all necessary test steps without skipping any. The modular structure enables the creation of variant-specific test instructions with minimal effort, rendering the error-prone maximum list unnecessary. An intuitive process description ensures a meticulous quality inspection, consequently decreasing the occurrence of undetected defects.

2. Facilitate an information return process that is user-centric:

The inclusion of ample free text fields allows for comprehensive descriptions of findings, accommodating detailed information. Quality inspectors can swiftly capture photos of the identified issues using their tablets and directly save them within the checklist. This valuable information empowers a clear and precise assessment of the discovered defects, facilitating accurate evaluation.

3. Benefit of a trustworthy assessment:

Transmission errors are eliminated entirely. Every piece of information and data gathered is automatically stored and archived as a digital report, ensuring accuracy and reliability. The integration with external systems allows for effortless exportation and storage of reports in your ERP systems and MES, streamlining data management processes.

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