INSPECTION AND QUALITY CONTROL RGUKT RK VALLEY

CHAPTER 01
Inspection; Definition – Fundamentals – Sampling Vs. 100% inspection –
Automated Inspection – when and where to inspection.

Introduction:
Quality control utilizes both inspection and testing procedures to detect whether a
part or product is within design specifications. Both activities are important in a
company's quality control program.

Inspection is used to assess the quality of the product relative to design

specifications.
Testing is a term in quality control that refers to assessment of the functional aspects
of the product.

 Does the product operate the way it is supposed to operate?

 Will it continue to operate for a reasonable period of time?
 Will it operate in environments of extreme temperature and humidity?

Accordingly, QC testing is a procedure in which the item being tested (product,

subassembly, part, or material) is observed during actual operation or under
conditions that might be present during operation.

For example, a product might be tested by running it for a certain period of time to
determine whether it functions properly. If the product successfully passes the test, it
is approved for shipment to the customer. As another example, a part, or the material
out of which the part is to be made, might be tested by subjecting it to a stress load
that is equivalent to or greater than the load anticipated during normal service.
Sometimes the testing procedure is damaging or destructive to the item. To ensure
that the majority of the items (e.g., raw materials or finished products) are of
satisfactory quality, a limited number of the items are sacrificed. However, the
expense of destructive testing is significant enough that great efforts are made to
devise methods that do not result in the destruction of the item. These methods are
referred to as Non Destructive Testing (NDT) and Non Destructive Evaluation
(NDE).

Definition:
The term inspection refers to the activity of examining the product, its components,
subassemblies, or materials out of which it is made, to determine whether they
conform to design specifications. The design specifications are defined by the
product designer.
Fundamentals:
Inspections can be classified into two types, according to the amount of information
derived from the inspection procedure about the item's conformance to
specification:

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1. Inspection for variables: In this one or more quality characteristics of interest are
measured using an appropriate measuring instrument or sensor.

Examples:

 Measuring the diameter of a cylindrical part "Measuring the temperature of a

toaster oven to see if it is within the range specified by design engineering.
 Measuring the electrical resistance of an electronic component
 Measuring the specific gravity of a fluid chemical product

2. Inspection for attribute: In this the part or product is inspected to determine

whether it conforms to the accepted quality standard. The determination is
sometimes based simply on the judgment of the inspector. In other cases: the
inspector uses a gage to aid in the decision. Inspection by attributes can also involve
counting the number of defects in a product.

Examples:

 Gaging a cylindrical part with a GO/NO-GO gage to determine if it is within

tolerance
 Determining the fraction defect rate of a sample of production parts
 Counting the number of defects per automobile as it leaves the final
assembly plant
 Counting the number of imperfections in a production run of carpeting

Inspection Procedure:

A typical inspection procedure performed on an individual item, such as a part,

subassembly, or final product, consists of the following steps :

1. Presentation- The item is presented for examination.

2. Examination- The item is examined for nonconforming feature(s). In

inspection for variables, examination consists of measuring a dimension or other
attribute of the part or product. In inspection for attributes, this involves gaging one
or more dimensions or searching the item for flaws.

3. Decision- Based on the examination a decision is made whether the item

satisfies defined quality standards. The simplest case involves a binary decision, in
which the item is deemed either acceptable or unacceptable. In more complicated
cases, the decision may involve grading the item into one of more than two possible
quality categories. such as grade A, grade B. and unacceptable.

4. Action- The decision should result in some action, such as accepting or

rejecting the item, or sorting the item into the most appropriate quality grade, It may
also be desirable to take action to correct the manufacturing process to minimize the
occurrence of future defects.

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Sampling Vs. 100% Manual Inspection:

Sampling Inspection:

Inspection is traditionally accomplished using manual labor. The work is often

boring and monotonous, yet the need for precision and accuracy is great. Hours are
sometimes required to measure the important dimensions of only one work part.
Because of the time and expense involved in inspection work, sampling procedures
are often used to reduce the need to inspect every part. The statistical sampling
procedures are known by the terms acceptance sampling or lot sampling.

Types of Sampling Plans: There are two basic types of acceptance sampling:

(1) Attributes sampling and

(2) Variables sampling.

In a variables sampling plan, a random sample is taken from the population, and
the quality characteristic of interest (e.g., a part dimension) is measured for each
unit in the sample. These measurements are then averaged. and the mean value is
compared with an allowed value for the plan. The batch is then accepted or rejected
depending on the results of this comparison. The allowed value used in the
comparison is chosen so that the probability that the batch will be rejected is small
unless the actual quality level in the population is indeed poor.

In an attributes sampling plan, a random sample is drawn from the batch, and the
units in the sample are classified as acceptable or defective, depending on the
quality criterion being used. The batch is accepted if the number of defects does not
exceed a certain value, called the acceptance number. On the other hand. if the
number of defects found in the sample is greater than the acceptance number, the
batch is rejected. As in variables sampling, the value of the acceptance number is
selected so that the probability that the batch will be rejected is small unless the
overall quality of the parts in the batch is poor.

In sampling, there is always a probability that the batch will be rejected even if the
overall quality is acceptable. Similarly, there is a probability that the batch will be
accepted even if the overall quality level in the batch is not acceptable. Statistical
errors are a fact of life in statistical sampling. Let us explore what is meant by the
word "acceptable" in the context of acceptance sampling and at the same time
examine the risks associated with committing a statistical error. Our focus will be
on attributes sampling, but the same basic notions apply to variables sampling.
Ideally, a batch of parts would be absolutely free of defects. However, such
perfection is difficult if not impossible to attain in practice. Accordingly, a certain
level of quality is agreed on between the customer and the supplier a, being
acceptable, even though that quality is less than perfect. This is called the
Acceptable Quality Level (AQL), which is defined in terms of proportion of defects,
or fraction defect rate q o. Alternatively, there is another level of quality, again
defined in terms of fraction defect rate q 1, where q 1 > q0, which is agreed on by
customer and supplier as being unacceptable. This q 1 level is called the Lot
Tolerance Percent Defective (LTPD).

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Operating Characteristic Curve:

Much information about a sampling plan can be obtained from its operating
characteristic curve (OC curve). The operating characteristic curve for a given
sampling plan gives the probability of accepting a hatch as a function of the possible
fraction defect rates that might exist in the batch, The general shape of the OC curve
is shown in Figure, In effect, the OC curve indicates the degree of protection
provided by the sampling plan for various quality levels of incoming lots. If the
incoming batch has a high quality level (low q), then the probability of acceptance is
high. If the quality level of the incoming batch is poor (high q), then the probability
of acceptance is low.

Figure: The operating characteristic (OC) curve for a given sampling plan shows
the probability of accepting the lot for different fraction defect rates.

100% Manual Inspection:

In sampling inspection, the sample size is often small compared with the size of the
population. The sample size may represent only 1% or fewer of the number of parts
in the batch. Because only a portion of the items in the population is inspected in a
statistical sampling procedure, there is a risk that some defective parts will slip
through the inspection screen.

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When a batch is rejected as a result of a sampling procedure, several possible

actions might be taken. One possibility is to send the parts bark to the supplier. If
there is an immediate need for the parts in production, this action may be
impractical. A more appropriate action may be to inspect the batch 100% and sort
out the defects, which are sent back to the supplier for replacement or credit. A third
possible action is to sort out the defects and rework or replace them at the supplier's
expense. Whatever the action, rejecting a batch leads to corrective action that has
the effect of improving the overall quality of the batch exiting the inspection
operation. A given sampling plan can be described by its Average Outgoing Quality
curve (AOQ curve), the typical shape of which is illustrated in Figure. The AOQ
curve shows the average quality of batches passing through the sampling inspection
plan as a function of incoming lot quality (before inspection). As one would expect,
when the incoming quality is good (low q), the average outgoing quality is good
(low AOQ). When the incoming quality is poor (high q), the AOQ is also low
because there is a strong probability of rejecting the batch, with the resulting action
that defectives in the batch are sorted out and replaced with good parts. It is in the
intermediate range, between the AQL and LTPD, that the outgoing batch quality of
the sampling plan is the poorest. As shown in our plot, the highest AOQ level will
be found at some intermediate value of q, and this AOQ is called the Average
Outgoing Quality Limit (AOQL) of the plan.

Figure: Average Outgoing Quality (AOQ) curve for a sampling plan

The frequency with which samples are taken, the sample size, and the permissible
quality level (AQL) are three important factors that affect the level of risk involved.
But the fact remains that something less than 100% good quality must be tolerated
as a price to be paid for using statistical sampling procedures.

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In principle, the only way to achieve 100% acceptable quality is to use 100%
inspection. It is instructive to compare the OC curve of a 100% inspection plan,
with the OC curve of a sampling plan. The advantage of 100% inspection is that the
probability the batch will be accepted is 1.0 if its quality is equal to or better than
the AQL and zero if the quality is lower than the AQL. One might logically argue
that the term "acceptable quality level" has less meaning in 100% inspection, since a
target of zero defects should be attainable if every part in the batch is inspected; in
other words, the AQL should be set at q = 0. However, one must distinguish
between the output of the manufacturing process that makes the parts and the output
of the inspection procedure that sorts the parts. It may be possible to separate out all
of the defects in the batch so that only good parts remain after inspection (AOQ =
zero defects), whereas the manufacturing process still produces defects at a certain
fraction defect rate q (q > 0).

Theoretically, 100% inspection allows only good quality parts to pass through the
inspection procedure. However, when 100% inspection is done manually, two
problems arise:

First, the obvious problem is the expense involved. Instead of dividing the time of
inspecting the sample over the number of parts in the production run, the inspection
time per piece is applied to every part. The inspection cost sometimes exceeds the
cost of making the part.
Second, with 100% manual inspection, there is the problem of inspection accuracy.
There are almost always errors associated with 100% inspection (Type I and II
errors. Especially when the inspection procedure is performed by human inspectors.
Because of these human errors, 100% inspection using manual methods is no
guarantee of 100% good quality product.

AUTOMATED INSPECTION:

An alternative to manual inspection is automated inspection. Automation of the

inspection procedure will almost always reduce inspection time per piece and
automated machines are not given to the fatigue and mental errors suffered by
human inspectors, Economic justification of an automated inspection system
depends on whether the savings in labor cost and improvement in accuracy will
more than offset the investment and/or development costs of the system.

Automated inspection can be defined as the automation of one or more of the steps
involved in the inspection procedure. There are a number of alternative ways in
which automated or semi automated inspection can be implemented:

1. Automated Presentation of parts by an automatic handling system with a

human operator still performing the examination and decision steps.
2. Automated examination and decision by an automatic inspection machine,
with manual loading (presentation) of parts into the machine.
3. Completely automated inspection system in which parts presentation,
examination. and decision are all performed automatically.

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In the first case, the inspection procedure is performed by a human worker. with all
of the possible errors in this form of inspection. In cases (2) and (3) , the actual
inspection operation is accomplished by an automated system. These latter cases are
our primary interest here

As in manual inspection, automated inspection can be performed using statistical

sampling or 100% manual. When statistical sampling is used, sampling errors are
possible. With either sampling or 100% inspection. automated systems can commit
inspection errors. just as human inspectors can make such errors. For simple
inspection tasks, such as automatic gaging of a single dimension. on a part,
automated systems operate with high accuracy (low error rate). As the inspection
operation becomes more complex and difficult, the error rate tends to increase.
Some machine vision applications fall into this category; for example, detecting
defects in integrated circuit chips or printed circuit boards. It should be mentioned
that these inspection tasks are also complex and difficult for human workers. and
this is one of the reasons for developing automated inspection systems that can do
the job.

As before, inspection errors can he classified as Type I or Type II. A Type I error
occurs when the automated system indicates a defect when no defect is really
present, and a Type II error occurs when the system misses a real defect. Some
automated inspection systems can be adjusted in terms of their sensitivity for
detecting the defect they are designed to find. This is accomplished by means of a
"gain" adjustment or similar control. When the sensitivity adjustment is low, the
probability of a Type I error is low but the probability of a Type II error is high.
When the sensitivity adjustment is increased, the probability of a Type I error
increases. whereas the probability of a Type II error decreases.

When and Where to Inspect:

Inspection can be performed at any of several places in production:

(1) receiving inspection, when raw materials and parts are received from suppliers,
(2) at various stages of manufacture, and
(3) before shipment to the customer.

In this section our principal focus is on case (2), that is, when and where to inspect
during production.

Off-Line and On-line Inspection:

The timing of the inspection procedure in relation to the manufacturing process is an

important consideration in quality control. Three alternative situations can be
distinguished, (a) off-line inspection,
(b) on-line/in-process inspection, and
(c) online/post-process inspection.

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Off-Line Inspection: Off-line inspection is performed away from the manufacturing

process, and there is generally a time delay between processing and inspection.
Offline inspection is often accomplished using statistical sampling methods. Manual
inspection is common. Factors that tend to promote the use of off-line inspection
include:
(1) variability of the process is well within design tolerance.
(2) processing conditions are stable and the risk of significant deviations in the
process is small, and
(3) cost of inspection is high relative 10 the cost of a few defective parts.

The disadvantage of off-line inspection is that the parts have already been made by
the time poor quality is detected. When sampling is used, an additional disadvantage
is that defective parts can pass through the sampling procedure.

On-Line Inspection: The alternative to off-line inspection is on-line inspection, in

which the procedure is performed when the parts are made, either as an integral step
in the processing or assembly operation, or immediately afterward. Two on-line
inspection procedures can be distinguished: on-line/in-process and on-line/post
process.

On-line/in-process inspection is achieved by performing the inspection procedure

during the manufacturing operation. As the parts are being made, the inspection
procedure is measuring or gaging the parts simultaneously. The benefit of in-
process inspection is that it may be possible to influence the operation that is
making the current part, thereby correcting a potential quality problem before the
part is completed. When on-line/in process inspection is performed manually, it
means that the worker who is performing the manufacturing process is also
performing the inspection procedure. For automated manufacturing systems, this
on-line inspection method is typically done on a 100% basis using automated sensor
methods. Technologically, automated on-line/in-process inspection of the product is
usually difficult and expensive to implement. As an alternative, on-line/ post-
process procedures are often used. With on-line/post-process inspection, the
measurement or gaging procedure is accomplished immediately following the
production process. Even though it follows the process, it is still considered an on-
line method because it is integrated with the manufacturing workstation, and the
results of the inspection can immediately influence the production operation. The
limitation of on-line/post-process inspection is that the part has already been made,
and it is therefore impossible to make corrections that will influence its processing.
The best that can be done is to influence the production of the next part.

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