Product quality inspections of products before they are released to customers have always been an important quality control feature. In the past, inspection processes were either completed manually, with pen & paper, and the use of spreadsheets. However, due to the development of mobile apps and continuous improvement in technology and software, the inspection process is now driven by cloud-based solutions, cellular and tablet devices, and inspection software.
In the modern economy, where competition is high,, and efficiency paramount, inspection management software is vital for supporting business performance and operations. Let’s now discuss what inspection management software means and why your business should consider using inspection software if you are not doing so already!
What Is an Inspection Management Software?
Before discussing what is meant by inspection software, let’s first discuss the importance of the inspection process and why a business must perform inspections and have an inspection management system in the first place.
The quality of manufactured products depends on the quality of the available raw materials. Thus, inspection management is concerned with verifying the quality of raw materials and finished goods at the end of the manufacturing process. With the quality of these goods confirmed, they are released to consumers or stored in inventory.
Raw materials, manufactured goods, parts, and components that are damaged or faulty can result in significant headaches for businesses and customers. In addition, defective or damaged products will need to be recalled, hurting both customer satisfaction and a company’s bottom line.
An inspection management system is essential to reduce risk and avoid subsequent product recalls. An inspection management system details the sample size of a batch of products that need an inspection, how product quality is assessed/inspected, the inspection criteria, and the inspection data to be collected and shared. As mentioned, inspection tasks are conducted at various product life cycle stages.
The inspection process to ascertain quality control remains an important dimension of business operations; additionally, businesses must have a product inspection management system in place to ensure regulatory compliance. Moreover, these inspections must conform to established international standards. However, conducting checks with pen & paper and spreadsheets is slow and cumbersome. Therefore, the introduction of quality inspection management software improves existing paper-based documents.
With the aid of quality control inspection software and mobile devices, the inspection process now takes place on a cloud-based platform. Essentially, this means that inspection data collection is faster and can be shared with anyone with mobile access. Sharing inspection data quickly improves operational efficiency and enables companies to implement corrective actions before defective products enter manufacturing. Additionally, quality inspection software can reduce costs due to increased efficiency and saved labor hours.
Attributes of An Inspection Software
We can now discuss some attributes of inspections software. Generally, inspection software automates and expedites inspection processes for the benefit of both businesses and consumers.
Automate Inspection Process
With quality inspection software, the inspection process is streamlined dramatically. When inspection management was completed via pen & paper or spreadsheets in the past, setting up the inspection process was a cumbersome procedure. By contrast, management software and mobile apps will automatically generate inspection criteria documents. As a result, quick availability of documentation saves time for employees as they will no longer wait for paper forms. Moreover, any product inspection failures will automatically create a notification to alert relevant parties. This is particularly helpful for clients and customers relying on these product inspections.
Additionally, as inspection software centralizes inspection data, any employee or manager who has downloaded the mobile app can access the data in real-time. Therefore, team members can easily monitor and collect information about the product quality, impacting their operations.
Schedule and Report Tasks
Any incoming inspection process can be scheduled and generated on the inspection app. Again, inspection criteria detailing how product quality is assessed can be attached to particular inspection tasks. Should any quality issues arise during the inspection process, employees can report them on the app. Additionally, separate tasks for products that have failed quality control inspections can also be scheduled for the future.
Custom Templates
One of the most powerful features of inspection software is its ability to create forms and generate custom checklists and digital forms. Essentially, this feature ensures that myriad industries and enterprises can use inspection management software. This feature is beneficial as quality processes differ according to the type of material assessed by employees. For example, incoming material will have different criteria for goods leaving the warehouse.
Offline and Online Support
Inspection software offers both online and offline support for users. Online support includes electronic signatures and monitoring product inspections in real-time. Inspection software also has reporting features and can store previous inspection records. Offline support provides sampling plans, inspection protocols/criteria, and inspection checklists. With this information provided, every incoming inspection process and outgoing inspection process are streamlined for the benefit of the business and customers.
Seamless Integration With ERP
A further powerful attribute of inspection management software is its seamless integration with existing ERP and IT systems. Essentially, when inspection software is integrated with ERP systems, employees and management can track product inspections at different supply chain stages.
Crucially, the supply chain process is also complemented when inspection management software is integrated with ERP systems. With the two systems combined, management and employees can track every element of the product life cycle – including purchase orders, work orders, quality inspections’ status, and the product’s location. The integration of inspection and ERP software ensures employees know when purchase orders have been executed and when these orders are expected to arrive.
Why Do You Need Quality Control Inspection Software?
Decrease Workload and Increase Efficiency
Inspection management can be a time-consuming and cumbersome process. However, with mobile access and with the help of a mobile app, product inspections can now be done by employees quicker! Mobile access ensures forms, criteria, sample size requirements, and inspection data can be quickly and easily shared among employees. Supplier inspections can also be monitored in real-time, thereby keeping management and employees up-to-date. Additionally, with inspection reports generated quicker, management can ensure that employees implement corrective procedures immediately.
A more efficient inspection management process has downstream effects, too. For example, it is possible to shorten construction timelines the quicker your inspection management process is.
Mitigate Risks and No Product Recalls
Inspection management is primarily concerned with assuring quality products are received from suppliers and sent to your customers. With the help of inspection software, the risk of product recalls due to poor product quality/product failure is substantially less as your business can detect product defects quickly. In addition, the earlier that employees can locate product defects, the easier it is to issue corrective procedures.
Moreover, inspection software can also help identify risky suppliers among your supplier base. With these risks among your supplier base identified, inspection software helps create custom sample size requirements and criteria for measuring product quality when receiving products from these suppliers.
Monitor Trends and Stay Updated
Inspection management software is now instrumental in managing business data, identifying trends, and completing complex inspections. With the aid software, your business can aggregate and identify trends among your supplier base. Identifying and monitoring these trends help mitigate supplier risks, identify potential problems early, and find solutions to issues repeated. Moreover, due to managers and employees having access to the same centralized data, any incoming inspection process will be known and planned without compromising workplace efficiency. As previously mentioned, employees and managers can also receive real-time updates of in-process quality inspections.
Inspection software is also needed to drive continuous improvement in inspection management procedures. Your company can gain insights based on past inspection data and identify recurring trends with inspection software. With the appropriate trends identified, management can introduce improvements on how a business can complete inspections. These improvements, in turn, can further reduce risk from suppliers and implement the preventive and predictive analysis.
Safe and Secure Inspection Records
A cloud-based platform supports contemporary inspection management. Rest assured, your documents and inspection records will be safe on these platforms! Software vendors continuously update their servers to ensure your data is protected. Cloud-based platforms also provide previous inspection data that is readily available for employees. This guarantees that timely inspections will proceed smoothly in the future. Importantly, as part of compliance requirements, these inspection records must be saved and easily accessible; this makes using cloud-based inspection management software even more convenient to use! To ensure compliance with regulations, management platforms will have additional features such as electronic signatures..
100% Customer Satisfaction
Ultimately, inspection management guarantees customer satisfaction by providing quality products. With the help of inspection software, the product inspection process prevents unnecessary delays, product failures, and potential product recalls. Unfortunately, any product quality issues can result in fewer customers, a collapse in brand image, and ultimately, less revenue. By contrast, customers satisfied with both the product quality and speed of quality inspection processes are more likely to use your services in the future!
Safety Inspections
To ensure customer safety, businesses must routinely perform inspections on incoming and outgoing products. Quality inspection software makes this task easier by providing all employees have easy access to safety inspection criteria and inspection data.
How The NonStop Group Can Help
The NonStop Group developed The NonStop Suite (NSS) to provide organizations with a suite of solutions to identify and track assets in real time. Organizations, use NSS for inspection management to easily track, approve and organize their work-orders, inspection forms, safety forms and much more. The platform gives you an all-in-one feel but also integrates with different EAM systems if needed. However, NSS can also stand alone as it’s own CMMS. Which cuts costs while providing you with the solutions your looking for. Connect with them by booking a product tour today!