How do you set the right QC mix?

Setting the right quality control (QC) mix is a lot like a recipe. It is about getting a combination of factors right.  

Standards, people, timing, and feedback are core to QC. However, their best balance differs depending on products, strategies, factory setups, and quality goals.

The common ground is that getting it right matters.

Understanding the QC mix

We have developed a QC mix as a practical model to help quality teams evaluate and adjust their QC initiatives. It consists of four main pillars:

• Quality standards
• Skills & training
• Inspection mix
• Performance & feedback

Analyzing QC across the four dimensions will help identify areas of improvement in your current setup.

For example, you may be placing too much weight on final inspections while underinvesting in pre-production inspections. Or inspectors may have clear standards but lack the training or tools to enforce them consistently.

Knowing your quality standards

Start with the question, what does “acceptable” mean?

Strong, clear quality standards are the foundation of QC. Many quality issues, especially repeat issues, can be traced back to a misalignment of expectations or unclear standards.  

Good standards are clear, visual, and embedded in daily QC workflows. They also need to reflect reality. If your tolerance levels are too tight or your materials list does not reflect what is being produced, even a perfect inspection will not help.

Skills and training at the core

Human factors lie at the core of QC matters. That is why building the right team with a mix of skillsets is essential. Regardless of who is involved, consistent training and alignment are also crucial.

Ongoing coaching and feedback can be standalone events, but they can also be integrated into work processes and workflows. For example, checklists can promote a shared understanding of QC matters that help inspectors and manufacturers know how to approach QC matters.

Your QC mix

Are you looking in the right place, at the right time, with the right method?

Final inspections can provide a lot of insight – but some of it is too late. Being overly focused on inline inspections can also lead to issues.  

Instead, mix up inspection types, including inline, preproduction, final, and random audits.

The specific combination should reflect your risk tolerance, product complexity, customer expectations, and needed sample size.

QC performance and feedback

What are you learning – and what are you doing with it?

Quality data can be found everywhere, but it is only useful if you collect, analyze, and act on it.  

Performance and feedback reviews, as well as analysis of inspection results, will help inform decision-making, drive improvement, and prevent future issues.

Six questions to support your QC mix

We have put together six questions to help you optimize your QC mix. They can serve as a starting point for evaluating your current approach and potential need for change:  

• How do we prepare a good QC brief? Are you using approaches and solutions that visually and intuitively document expectations?
• How do we set up the right team for success? Does the mix of people responsible for QC have the right skills, training, and tools?  
• How do we select the right inspection flow? Are inspections timed and structured to catch issues without interrupting production efficiency and results?  
• Who conducts the inspection? When should you use factory-based, third-party, or in-house inspectors?
• How do we learn from data and findings? Are you tracking and analyzing not just outcomes but also trends, and are the conclusions incorporated and fed back to your processes, people, and partners?
• How do we embed safeguards and trust the data? Is your system designed to ensure data and create accountability across your QC ecosystem?

Setting the right QC mix

We hope that the above shows how there is not one perfect QC for everyone. What works for one company, or even a production line, may fall flat in another.  

Setting the right QC mix is about making informed decisions based on your products, production setup, customer expectations, and risk tolerance. The goal is balance, not perfection.

The four dimensions and six questions can be a starting point for this process. Also, be aware that the right mix is dynamic. It evolves in tandem with your suppliers, strategy, and team.  

Getting it right will lead to great results, not just in improved pass rates, but also in fewer claims, faster issue resolution, and stronger relationships with your partners.

How Qarma can help

If you are looking to reevaluate your QC mix, the starting point has to be knowing what your current mix looks like and what you can do to optimize the setup.  

This is where Qarma comes in.

With Qarma, your quality standards can be built into digital checklists, complete with images and clear acceptance criteria, ensuring seamless integration. Your team’s skills and consistency are supported by mobile-first inspection tools that guide users and standardize reports.

Your inspection mix becomes easier to manage with flexible planning tools and workflows for every inspection type. It is about finding the right balance focusing not just on what's being inspected but also on how and why.

Want to learn more? Book a demo right here.