Quality control is a key aspect of the manufacturing industry. As the history of quality control has progressed, manufacturers have worked to stay up-to-date with adaptive standards & regulations for product quality.
Early Stages
It can be argued that quality control began with the preliminary emergence of manufacturing during the industrial revolution. In order to yield the greatest profits, factories were required to produce a product that was superior to the rest in order to attract more consumers. The Middle Ages, well before the industrial revolution began, created guilds where apprentices were trained in their craft for an extensive period of time. These guilds allowed them to perfect their skills and adhere to the high standards of quality set in place by their employers or overseers. In order to become masters of their craft, they needed to hone their abilities and sturdy their reputation by creating a masterpiece demonstrating their abilities to create a quality product. These processes helped ensure the quality of the products was maintained, consistent and always being sharpened.
Turn of the Century
Before the early 20th century, the principal focus of mass production was based on quantity, rather than the quality. The distribution of equipment, materials and labor were directed towards this end. During these times, quality control was a means of improving upon the machinery and technology to increase productivity while decreasing the consumption of human energy.
But by the 1920s, the focus had shifted from quantity to quality due to increases in demand. Emphasis was also taken into consideration to ensure the quality was consistent from shipment to shipment. Manufacturers required cheaper and more efficient work in order to increase output per machine, per person and per hour. Throughout the century, it quickly became clear that working harder and for longer periods of time was not increasing efficiency, but rather vice versa. The realization demonstrated that working smarter and employing quality control measures was the way to ultimately yield the most profits.
Modern Day
Modern quality control is an integral part of manufacturing. Several government and professional regulatory bodies are implemented in place aimed at ensuring quality product is being sold to consumers, such as Europe’s Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety (DG SANTE) and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). With many companies now choosing to produce goods offshore, factory quality control inspections have never been more relevant.
Conclusion
As we can see, the history of quality control is long, dating all the way back to medieval times. Quality control not only helps to improve the quality of goods for consumers, but it can also help to improve production processes and efficiency. Quality management systems used by modern organizations incorporate, but have also evolved beyond the fundaments developed by the key 20th-century quality pioneers. By looking at the evolution of QC throughout history, we can see that quality control has played a major role in the advancement of manufacturing, and its existence is still vital to the industry today.
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