18 Jun 2021
Best Software for Quality Inspection and Management

Quality Inspection:

One of the fundamental requirements of a product’s success is its quality. Quality Inspection is an activity to measure and examine the product features or company’s processes and compare the results to the product specifications and make sure if they conform to the defined requirements and standards. The product specifications are often presented as a checklist, and the quality inspectors will cross-verify the results with this checklist.

Quality Inspection is to check if products conform to standards while a quality audit checks if the quality inspections are conducted in the organization and whether the requirements are met.

Drawbacks of Traditional Paper-Based Quality Inspection:

A few years ago, before technology played a vital role in most businesses, all the industries such as manufacturing, construction, etc. followed a paper-based quality inspection process in which trained quality inspectors or engineers will be assigned to verify each product and process in accordance to the checklist and record the results like if they are compliance with the specifications. All the inspection-related information, such as inspection date, persons involved, deviations, and pending tasks, are stored in paper-based ledgers. There are some problems with this traditional approach:

    • Human error – There may inevitably be improper or incomplete inspections conducted by inspectors due to overlooking various processes. Sometimes mishandling of quality documents may happen causing data loss and redoing the inspection process.
    • Time-consuming process – To define all the standards in a written format, validating and logging the result of each stage of the inspection process, organizing, printing and distributing them to the required departments may take a longer time. This may lead to either a production halt or result in manufacturing defective end products.
    • Increased costs – If the inspection process goes smoothly, then there is no issue whereas if any step is missed or incomplete, then the quality inspectors and auditors have to arrange everything again which may add up to your overall cost.
    • Overlap of schedule and unavailability of resources – With a paper-based approach, there is a possibility that quality inspection scheduling would be difficult and, in some cases, there will be overlapping of schedules for the inspectors involved. Also, the checklists and other process information may not be available at the right time.
    • Training – If new employees from the quality department are assigned to carry out inspections, then they have to be provided with the right information and complete training of the process has to be given. With information stored as paper documents, providing detailed information on various skills takes time.
    • Miscommunication and incomplete information – It is a tedious process to write all the quality requirements and findings in detail. So, there is a chance that inspectors may write only a few words about the deviations or defects that can be misinterpreted when delivered to the other departments.

Digital Quality Control Inspection Software:

With the advancements in technology, some of the best quality control inspection software are developed with international standards. These digital applications provide you with an all-in-one platform to address all your quality needs such as managing quality inspections, business processes and compliance to specifications. They store the data in a centralized location that can be accessed safely with no data loss. Below are some of the reasons why paperless quality control inspection software is required:

    • With the traditional approach, a lot of professionals have to be hired to manage all the documents, train the newcomers, conduct the inspections, etc. With digital software, you can handle everything on the go without losing any information due to mishandling or human error.
    • Risks such as improperly storing the inspection results in an unsafe location or lesser visibility to the documents and inaccessibility to the documents at the right time due to a pile of data can be reduced.
    • Coordination among departments is easy. Quality is not specific to the quality control team. If there is any deviation from the specifications, it is the change control and development team who make the necessary improvements to eradicate the defects. So, whenever an inspection is conducted, all the departments should be informed with the right information. With the help of notification management in digital quality control inspection software, everyone will be aware of what processes are complete and what is remaining and if any actions to be taken based on the results.
    • Quick training and time-saving processes – all the training records or videos and employee information are stored digitally which anyone can access to equip them with the required skills. If anyone has questions or need assistance, they can just raise them in the electronic system and they will be addressed within a short period instead of waiting for in-person training and brainstorming.
    • Since all the information is stored in a common server and validations can be done promptly without confusion in schedule and assignment, all the quality findings are reported on time. No rework will be done. Thus, there won’t be unforeseen expenditures.

Best Quality Control Inspection Software

Are you still following traditional quality inspection due to the increasing market cost of paperless software? Don’t worry, in Harrington Group International, we offer the best quality control inspection software along with enterprise task management system as a package at an affordable price. We have an excellent document control feature using which you can input all the quality inspection data such as quality schedule, findings, auditors and inspectors assigned, pending inspections, approved and closed inspections, training for new inspectors, etc. These can be accessed anytime from anywhere using our cloud-based Enterprise Quality Management Software access control system.  HQMS (Harrington Quality Management System) not only offers document control to store all the data but also has a fantastic easy navigating notification system with which any schedule updates and quality findings are communicated to the involved parties up-to-date. It has been designed to meet ISO 9001:2015 standards with a package of scheduling, documenting and communication, so it will help you with continuous improvement of your product’s quality.