quality control

noun

|Updated on: 12 Aug 2018

Definition of quality control

: an aggregate of activities (such as design analysis and inspection for defects) designed to ensure adequate quality especially in manufactured products

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quality controller

noun

See quality control defined for English-language learners

Recent Examples of quality control from the Web

Target and Walmart provided quality control, but for customers willing to take a risk, sites like Wish work well.

— alana semuels, The Atlantic, "The Problem With Buying Cheap Stuff Online," 22 May 2018
Then six new coaches came on board in 2016 (two quality control) and again six new faces this year.

— jim owczarski, Cincinnati.com, "Cincinnati Bengals Xtra: Setting the table for the Bengals in free agency," 10 Feb. 2018
The focus on quality control could come at the cost of growth and disappoint investors – who already signaled their frustration by sending Facebook's stock down 4.5 percent the day after Zuckerberg began laying out changes this year.

— Anchorage Daily News, "Inside Facebook’s year of reckoning," 23 Jan. 2018
Another Trump relative is Steffen Geissel, who does quality control for local wines.

— katrin bennhold, BostonGlobe.com, "Trump’s ancestral village abounds with his relatives. Few will admit it," 3 July 2018
Staley impressed so much in the role that Reid then added him to Philadelphia’s coaching staff as an entry-level offensive/special teams quality control assistant.

— mike jones, USA TODAY, "Eagles RBs coach Duce Staley ready for next step in career, even if it's not his focus," 12 Feb. 2018
Some employees at Japanese manufacturers have said pressure to cut costs and keep production lines moving amid rising global competition have resulted in quality control being sacrificed.

— alastair gale, WSJ, "Nissan Admits Emissions-Test Data Was Falsified," 9 July 2018
One of his professors was W. Edwards Deming, an expert in quality control who influenced the Japanese approach to manufacturing.

— nellie bowles, New York Times, "Tatsuro Toyoda, Who Led Toyota’s Global Expansion, Dies at 88," 7 Jan. 2018
Patients would also be able to obtain pharmaceutical-grade products that are subject to strict quality control.

— The Economist, "High and mighty," 21 June 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'quality control.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

First Known Use of quality control

1935

in the meaning defined above

See Words from the same year

NEW! Time Traveler

Financial Definition of QUALITY CONTROL

quality control

noun

What It Is

Quality control is the act of ensuring that a company's goods and services are built and delivered to spec, on time and at the appropriate cost.

How It Works

For example, let's assume that Company XYZ makes widgets. The widgets come in blue and pink. To ensure that all the widgets are the same color pink and that the dye department is making the color consistently, it might create a quality control team that takes random samples of widgets and compares them for color consistency. If the team finds any variance, it has the authority to stop the production line until the process is corrected.

Quality control is not the same as quality assurance. Quality control usually monitors the finished product; quality assurance monitors the integrity of the production process.

Why It Matters

Quality control is a crucial part of managing a successful company. If customers receive or perceive inconsistent products and services, they will stop coming or become less loyal. For this reason, a variety of management strategies, including just-in-time manufacturing, total quality management (TQM) and six sigma have been developed to help companies produce higher-quality products.

People in the food industry are especially sensitive to quality control, as any defect or inconsistency in a product can create recalls, bad reviews and lower sales.

Source: Investing Answers