Quality control (QC) is a process in which enterprises seek to ensure the maintenance or improvement of product quality. Quality control requires the company to create an environment for management and employees to strive for excellence. That is done by training personnel, creating product quality benchmarks, and testing products to check for statistically significant differences.
An important point of quality control is the establishment of well-defined control. These controls help standardize production and respond to quality problems. By specifying who performs which production activities to limit the room for error, you can reduce the chances of employees participating in tasks for which they have not been fully trained.
Quality Control (QC)
Why do you need QC?
Creating a product is expensive, time-consuming, and unsafe without proper controls. In addition, if the company sends out defective products for purchase, it may be responsible for injuries or problems caused by the use. The quality control inspector ensures that consumers can not get defective or unsafe products and corrects these products.
How do you do this?
Quality testing is usually done at each step of the manufacturing or business process. Employees usually take samples from the production line and then test raw materials and the finished products. Testing at different stages of manufacturing helps determine where the production problem occurs and the remedial measures needed to prevent it in the future.
Quality control (QC), used in an enterprise, is highly dependent on the product or industry, and several technologies can measure quality. The food industry uses quality control methods to ensure consumers do not get sick because of their products. Quality control creates safety measures that can be implemented to ensure that defective or damaged products do not eventually reach customers.
Main Points of Quality Control
Quality control (QC) is a process in which enterprises seek to ensure the maintenance or improvement of product quality. It includes testing units and determining whether they meet the specifications of the final product.
In non-manufacturing enterprises, quality testing may involve customer service assessment, questionnaire survey, inspection, or audit. Enterprises can use any process or method to verify that their final products or services meet the customer’s needs and that they are safe and legal.
QC Is Different by Industry
The quality control used in the enterprise is highly dependent on the product or industry. For example, in food and drug manufacturing, quality control includes ensuring that products do not make consumers sick, so companies conduct chemical and microbiological tests on samples on the production line.
In aircraft manufacturing, quality control, and assurance are very important. Manufacturers need to record, track, inspect, and re-examine all products and phases of construction to establish evidence that everything is done within strict standards.
In automobile manufacturing, quality control focuses on parts that meet specifications and tolerances. QC ensures that the engine, transmission, and other mechanical parts operate smoothly, efficiently, safely, and by design requirements.
In the electronics industry, quality testing may involve instrument uses and pressure tests that measure current.
The type of quality control method
There are several quality control methods for communicating and tracking checks and problems. For example, a quality control chart is a graph that describes whether the sampled product or process meets its expected specifications-if not, the extent to which they differ from those specifications.
When a chart analyzes specific product attributes, it is called a univariate chart. A chart that measures the difference between multiple product attributes is called a multivariable chart. By tracking the differences, the enterprise can see how many defects have occurred in each production unit and what types of defects have occurred. Here are some examples of some of the methods used.
- X-bar chart
Randomly selected products are tested for the given properties that the chart is tracking. A common form of the quality control chart is the X-bar chart, where the y-axis on the chart tracks the acceptable degree of variance of the properties being tested. The X-axis tracks the sample of the test. Analyzing the different patterns on this chart can help you determine whether defects occur randomly or systematically.
- Taguchi Method
Taguchi quality control method is another method, which emphasizes the role of research and development, product design, and product development in reducing product defects and failures. The Taguchi method believes that design is more important than the manufacturing process in terms of quality control and tries to eliminate differences in the production process before they occur.
- 100% test method
This 100% inspection method is a quality control process that includes viewing and evaluating all product parts. This type of quality control is to eliminate defects in the product. This method gets used to evaluate valuable metals and products. The 100% inspection method requires data about the manufacturing process and software to analyze inventory.
The challenge with this approach is that viewing every project used to build a product is expensive and can destabilize or make the product unusable. For example, if you check organic strawberries in this way, you may damage the berries so seriously that they cannot be sold anymore.
Why is quality control important?
Quality control ensures that defective goods are not made public. Companies with quality control methods usually have employees who pay close attention to their work.
In food and drug manufacturing, quality control can prevent products that make customers sick, while in manufacturing, quality control can ensure that people will not have accidents when using products.
Safety Standards
Safety is always important when producing and selling goods designed for children, including youth furniture, cycling toys, electric toys, and even board games. However, due to the continuous change in government regulations and industry standards, it is a complex issue.
The global toy industry, a $1 billion industry, is expected to continue to grow. As a result, people will be very interested in exporting toys to different markets around the world. Ensuring that the quality of products meets various safety standards around the world will pose a challenge to manufacturers. This article will help you understand the various safety requirements of the toy industry.
First, there are some general rules and assumptions:
Toys are designed and produced for specific target groups of children. When assessing the safety of toys, the development stage of the target group must be taken into account. For example, how likely are children of the target age to swallow toy widgets? What are the development expectations of the target age group?
Apart from the self-evident and inherent risks, toys should not pose a risk to the well-being of children in the target market. Can children operate toys properly without the risk of injury?
Adults are still needed to supervise children when playing with toys because accidents may occur in the process of playing. You need to test whether children can avoid potential injuries in the presence of adults.
Reasonable wear and tear are assumed when evaluating the safety of toys.
As mentioned above, different regions and countries will have their toy safety standards. Here are the main points:
EN 71 standard
EN71 is the European toy safety standard. It complies with European toy safety directives. EN71 also covers UK toy safety regulations. In the UK, there are seven standards and a separate standard to regulate the electrical safety of toys.
The legislation sets out the safety requirements for all toys for children under the age of 14. Products that are not sold as toys but still have the appearance of toys are also subject to EN71. Some toys, such as slings and slingshots, are not affected by this provision. The standard has six parts, which cover different aspects of safety, such as flammability, toxicity, and safety marking. All toys imported into Europe must carry the CE logo.
ASTM F963
ASTM F963 is an American toy safety standard. Toys must meet the requirements of the Consumer goods Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA). The goal of the ASTM F963 is to discover any danger that may not be easily noticed by the public when the toy is not used as expected. ASTM F963 also outlines requirements and testing methods for toys made for children under the age of 14. These requirements vary according to age groups.
ISO 8124
ISO standards do not override the safety standards, regulations, and testing procedures of local and federal governments and agencies.
The ISO8124 standard is developed with the cooperation of experts from different countries such as Australia, the United States, the United Kingdom, and China. There are 25 participating States and 30 observer States. The standard has been adopted or used as a reference in the national requirements of about 20 countries, such as Australia and China. The goal of the ISO standard is to establish consistency among the world’s major standards. The regulations of one market may be different from those of another. Therefore, compliance with the laws of one country does not ensure compliance with the laws of another country.
Although ISO standards are established to establish consistency among key standards, meeting these standards does not automatically guarantee compliance by every country. Toys must meet each country’s own set of safety standards. Therefore, it is necessary to confirm with each country what its toy safety requirements are.
China Compulsory Certification (CCC) Standard
All products established by the China Certification and Accreditation Bureau of the people’s Republic of China that fall within the scope of China’s compulsory certification must undergo CCC testing and factory inspection by institutions designated by the China Certification and Accreditation Bureau to ensure compliance with CCC requirements.
The toy products belonging to CCC cover 17 categories and 103 kinds of products. They must meet the requirements of CCC and be affixed with the CCC logo before they can be sold, imported, or used for commercial purposes in China.
U. S. Safety Standards
Safety is a top priority in the toy industry.
From the initial toy concept to the final product sold in retail, every toy is integrated with safety at every step of the production process. The Consumer Product Safety Commission has long listed toys as the safest of the 15 consumer goods in the family.
American toy manufacturers follow a set of mandatory safety rules and regulations under ASTM F963. It is a standard consumer safety code for toy safety, which was created by ASTM International. Since 1986, it has been regarded as the gold standard for toy safety and has been emulated around the world. The multi-stakeholder committee led by the Toy Association constantly reviews the standard to ensure that it is synchronized with child development research, medical and toy-related event data, risk assessment techniques, science, and manufacturing innovation. The standard was last revised in 2022.
Test Recommendations
As standards vary around the world, it is important to include common best practices that cover all bases in your quality assurance plan. The following are recommended checks and tests performed during the inspection:
The main test.
Real performance.
Tension and seams.
Discard it.
Flexibility.
Compress.
Flammability.
Torque.
Safety, care, and warning label inspection.
Internal inspection.
Mechanical hazard.
Fillings.
Specific tests.
Humidity test of wooden toys.
Smell it.
The adhesive on the logo/label.
Electricity.
Chemicals.
Hygiene.
Metal detection
Toy Playing Guidelines
Here are some guidelines to help keep children safe:
Read the instructions and warnings on the package.
Buy age-appropriate toys.
Listen to those noisy toys and make sure the sound doesn’t scare the child.
Avoid toys with sharp or hard tips and dangerous edges.
Avoid toys with small parts as they pose a risk of asphyxiation to young children.
Keep the toys of older and younger children at home separately. Young children like to play with their brothers and sisters toys, which may contain small parts that can cause suffocation.
Avoid playing with marbles, balls, and balls no more than 1.75 inches in diameter for children under the age of 3.
If you buy wheeled toys for children of any age, such as bicycles, skateboards, scooters, and tricycles, buy a helmet as well.
Check all toys to make sure their structures are safe.
Demonstrate how to use toys safely.
Secure all batteries so that they are untouchable.
Provide supervision.
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