Title: What Does a Quality Inspector Do?
Course: PW-Course-Import-Test > Section: Module 1: Introduction to Quality Control

Module 1

Quality inspectors work with manufacturing professionals during the production process, often approving the quality of raw materials before manufacturing begins. When production is completed, quality inspectors are responsible for a final in-depth inspection before signing off and approving the product. More importantly, quality inspectors find issues with both materials and the manufacturing processes when the product does not meet specifications. Correcting those faults ensures a better finished product for prospective consumers.

When a product is completed, a quality inspector tests the performance to determine if it meets manufacturer and industry standards. If a product does not meet specifications, recommendations are made to improve the quality of a product.

Have you ever wondered what a work day is like for a quality inspector? What are their duties and who do they interact with? Of course, the day-to-day activities of  a quality inspector will vary depending on the industry and company they work for. Even within a particular company the role of a quality inspector can vary depending on the type of inspection they are performing.

Sounds confusing and you have more questions than answers? Don’t worry! Here is half a day in the life of a quality inspector working in receiving inspection. This is a lot of information but enjoy reading the extract and send me an email if you have any questions.

Scenario: Day in the life of a receiving quality inspector

6:00 AM

I come into work and check my emails to see if there is an email from the planning department. Someone from the planning department would send an email to all the quality inspectors if there is a component on the ‘hot list’ that needs to be inspected right away because of shortage of that particular component on the manufacturing floor. Today there are two components on that list. The two parts are identified by lot number, part number and location on the shelf where they are stored. Another email in my inbox is from my supervisor. She has assigned the inspection of one of the parts on the hot list to me. The parts are located on shelf B2 and need to be inspected by end of day.

6:30 AM

In the office area I locate the documents that contain the information about the parts that I need to measure. It contains the information from the supplier and a work order package that tells me what needs to be inspected on the parts. I have inspected parts from this supplier in the past but this component is a new one. I review the supplier documentation and it looks like that they have sent us a total of 900 parts in nine individual boxes. This means that there are 100 components in each box. The work order requires me to inspect 10 random parts from each box. It requires me to measure the length of the part which is a critical dimension and verify that the parts are blue in color.

7:00 AM

I head to the cage were the parts received from the supplier are stored until they are inspected and approved for release to the manufacturing floor. I look for the parts on shelf location B2. I find the parts and confirm the part number and the lot number against the one in the email. I count the boxes and put them on the cart to bring to the inspection area. On my way back I meet a couple of other quality inspectors and we chat for a couple of minutes. They sensed that I was working on something important and did not want to hold me up. I head back to the inspection area and start preparing for the inspection.

7:30 AM

I am all prepared to start the inspection now. I cleaned down the inspection table with isopropyl alcohol, verified that the calipers I was going to use for the inspection are in calibration. I open one box at a time and randomly select ten parts from them. I record the box number these parts came from and the dimension of each part. The drawing that I am referring to for the inspection states that the dimension of the part should be 1.25 +/-0.05 inches in length. The first 10 dimensions I record are 1.25, 1.24, 1.26, 1.24, 1.24, 1.24, 1.25, 1.24, 1.26 and 1.24 inches. I write these numbers down using good documentation practices. Next I have to verify that the parts are all in blue in color. This is a an easy inspection. I was able to verify this when I was getting these 10 parts from the box. I record this on the inspection sheet.

9:00 AM

I have two more boxes to inspect. However, since it is time for the morning break, I stop what I am doing, place a sign that says ‘Inspection in Process’ on the work area and leave for break. The break room is just down the hallway. I get some coffee and sit at the table with other inspectors. We talk about how our day is going so far. Tanya tells us about dinner plans she has tonight. I see an engineer walk into the break room to talk to a quality inspector on the other table. The morning break is 20 minutes but somehow always feels short. I meet my boss on the way back to the inspection area. I greet him and tell him that I have only two more boxes to go before I am completed with the inspection. He seems to be happy with that information.

9:30 AM

I open up the eighth box and retrieve the parts from them. I verify that the parts are blue in color and bring them to the inspection table. After recording the box number and the color, I start measuring them. The first three measurements read 1.27, 1.26, 1.28. When I measure the forth part it measured 1.31 inches. This does not seem right . Per the drawing, the length of the part can be no greater than 1.25 + 0.05 = 1.30 inches. All sort of questions run through my mind. Am I measuring it wrong? Are the parts out of specification? I verify that I am using the same caliper to measure the part and then measure it again. The length of the part again measures 1.31 inches. I measure the remainder of the six parts from the box. Five of the parts are within specification but I find another one that measures 1.32 inches. So now I have a total of two parts out of 10 that are out of specification. One measures 1.31 and the other measures 1.32 inches. I put these two parts aside and look towards Jorge. Jorge is sitting at the inspection station right by me inspecting parts from another customer. I explain to him what is happening with my dimensional measurement and ask him if he can come and help me verify the parts again.

10:00 AM

Jorge has confirmed that the parts are out of specification. He measured each of the two parts with the caliper I was using and then with the caliber that he was using to measure his parts. Both these parts are a bit too long to pass this inspection. I record these dimensions on the inspection sheet and write ‘Fail’ against these dimensions. I leave a voicemail for my supervisor to come to the inspection area. Jorge reminds me to measure the last box to verify if this box too had bad parts in them. I retrieve 10 parts from the ninth box and measure them. Luckily they all pass the dimensional and visual inspection.

10:30 AM

My supervisor walks in to talk to me. I tell her about the failed dimensions and that these parts were on the hot list. She agrees that manufacturing needs these parts bad but if the parts fail, there is not a lot we can do. It is a good thing we found this defect or else we would be using bad parts to build the medical device. She is going to communicate to the manufacturing supervisor that the parts were going to get delayed and we were going to issue a non conformance report to document this dimensional failure. Since these parts were from a supplier someone in the supply chain department is going to inform the supplier about this.

11:00 AM

Using the computer I log in to the non conformance recording program. I clear my thoughts and focus on what I am going to write in the non conformance description section. I write “During dimensional inspection of part number 236-654-001, lot number 60258964 found two parts to fail the 1.25+/-0.05 dimension as required by drawing 70586 Revision D. The two parts measured 1.31 and 13.2 inches. Both of these parts came from box eight sent by the supplier.” It is essential to write a complete description of the issue so that someone else who is not very familiar with the part can understand what happened. After I am done entering some other information that the system requires, I hit the save button. Since these parts have now failed, I move these parts to a secured area and verify that I have all nine boxes, all the documentation and the two parts that failed.

11:30 AM

It is lunch time and I go back to the lunch room. It has already been an eventful day! I reply to some messages on my phone and finish up my lunch. I see an engineer enter the break room and head towards me. I have an idea why he wants to talk to me. He wants more information on the parts I just measured. As we walk back to the inspection area, I explain to him what I found. He says that he will set up a meeting for tomorrow morning to discuss what they are going to do with the parts. Most likely they will send box number eight back to the supplier. We will measure additional parts from the other boxes just to make sure there are no more bad parts.

12:00 PM

I head back to my computer to see the next inspection that my supervisor has assigned me. I print out the email with all the information about the next inspection. I have an hour before the team meeting and I can get some of this inspection started before that.

Here is an excellent video of an interview of a quality associate working in a bioscience company. Listen closely to what she says are very important traits that quality inspectors should have. Irrespective of what industry or company you would be working for, these are valuable traits to have.

- curiousity
- desire to learn
- detail oriented
- organized

 | Watch

Quality Control Associate

The job and function she describes is not for a entry level quality inspector in a medical device company, but you get the idea of what the job involves.

Here is another interview with a quality inspector who works in the electronic industry that refurbishes cell phones. She talks about her day-to-day work and the difference she creates for her company. Assurant Quality Inspector