Quality control and quality assurance are the procedures and techniques by which the quality of the procured goods, resources, products and services is determined. The freelance procurement consultant looks after the process of manufacturing of the necessary products and the performed services, by using several tools, to see that these are at par with the criteria of the clients or customers. The quality of these products, goods and services should match with the requirement of the client, for the proper procurement and sourcing processes to be executed. The procedure of quality control helps to ensure that the best quality, identical products and services are supplied to the customers and clients, without any deviations.
Role of Quality Control Personnel
The quality control freelancers make sure that the products and services all conform to the criteria put forward by the clients and customers. They conduct tests and inspections on the manufactured products, to check whether these contain all the specifications mentioned by the clients, or as promised by the suppliers during the contract. The products and services are examined properly, using proper tools, techniques and technologies to see that these are up to the quality benchmarks. Using sampling and statistical analysis, the quality control personnel assesses not only the products that are produced but also the procedure of production, storage and final delivery of the manufactured goods and services. If the products and services do not conform to the specified requirements, then these are segregated as defective, and the details of the defects are noted in the inspection reports.
Tools Used in Quality Control
The processes of quality control and quality assurance can be done either manually or with the help of certain tools and equipment. The common tools which are used by the freelance procurement consultant to check the quality of the manufactured products and services are:
- Scatter diagram: This is a type of diagram where the plotting information along both the axes on the graph can help to visualize and identify the differences between the products.
- Histogram: This is a commonly used graph where bars are used to show the frequency distributions and analyze the frequent occurrence of defects.
- Pareto chart: It is a bar chart that provides a visual representation of the most important causes that are creating issues.
- Stratification: It helps to stratify the data to easily identify the specific problem areas and their patterns.
- Control chart: This chart is used to show the changes in the processes caused by using controls. It helps to identify and resolve the issues as they occur, and predict any future outcome of procedures and operations.
- Fishbone diagram: This diagram helps to visually identify the causes that lead to particular problems related to manpower, techniques, machines and materials.
- Checklists: The checklists are used as the basic tools to tally and tick off the list of materials and items, which should meet the requirements of the client, at the time of manufacturing or delivering the products and services, appropriately.
The quality control freelancers also use different inspection methods and techniques to conduct a complete analysis of the products and services before these are delivered to the clients or customers.