Workingbear has always wanted to write an article about “Quality Engineers,” because in most factories, quality engineers, product/process engineers, and test engineers are often called the “three major engineering departments” in manufacturing. Of course, there are also production, machine maintenance, and other departments in the factory.

However, since Workingbear has never officially worked in quality control, some of the opinions here may be biased or influenced by personal preference. Different viewpoints are welcome in the comments, but no name-calling, please.

In a traditional electronics manufacturing plant, quality control covers a wide range of areas—from supplier quality management (SQE), incoming material inspection (IQC), in-process quality control (IPQC and PQC), to outgoing quality control (OQC) that ensures the final shipment meets customer standards. Generally speaking, QC/QA staff are responsible for every quality-related step from material sourcing to shipping. They also have to coordinate responses to product defect feedback from the market.

Although QC work is broad and detailed, in the spirit of lean manufacturing, QC is technically a non-productive department. In other words, QC’s involvement doesn’t directly increase production output. If a company has too many QC staff, it may mean excessive and unnecessary manpower costs. Ideally, quality awareness should be embedded in every employee’s work, encouraging self-management or using automation systems to reduce QC workload.

Here’s a simple breakdown of QC roles from Workingbear (feel free to point out mistakes):

• IQC (Incoming Quality Control) – Inspects incoming materials before they enter production line. (Why assembly factories have IQC.)

• IPQC (In-Process Quality Control) – Monitors quality during the production process, such as checking if the right materials are loaded and if operators follow the SOP (Standard Operating Procedure).

• PQC (Process Quality Control) – Inspects semi-finished products. Often combined with IPQC.

• FQC (Final Quality Control) – Performs final inspection on finished goods.

• OQC (Outgoing Quality Control) – Checks products before shipment from the customer’s perspective. This often includes “OOB” (Out Of Box) inspections, where packaged products are opened to ensure they meet customer requirements. Typically uses AQL (Acceptable Quality Limit) sampling standards.

• SQE (Supplier Quality Engineer) – Manages supplier quality through audits, evaluations, incoming material control, and supplier coaching.

When we’re job hunting, we often see positions labeled as “QA Engineer.” But what’s the real difference between QA and QC?

Honestly, the line between QA (Quality Assurance) and QC (Quality Control) isn’t as clear as it used to be. Back when Workingbear worked in factories, most quality engineers were called QA, while the operators or inspectors on the production line responsible for checking product quality were usually called QC.

Both QA and QC deal with quality, but by definition, QA focuses more on prevention—making sure the right processes and methods are used during production. It’s more system-oriented. QC, on the other hand, is more about detection—finding defects after the product is finished. It’s more hands-on.

That said, in most companies, if they hire a quality engineer, they expect that person to handle both QA and QC work. Factories usually don’t have enough quality engineers to split the roles completely. QA’s main focus is on prevention, while QC focuses on inspection. Since you’re an engineer, you’re expected to think independently—mainly doing QA work, with QC as a supporting role. Usually, QA engineers step in to mediate and coordinate when there’s a quality dispute, often working with PE (Product/Process Engineers) and TE (Test Engineers).

A typical QA engineer’s daily tasks include reviewing daily, weekly, and monthly quality reports. If the yield rate falls below the target, they work with related departments to find the problem and make sure it gets fixed. Skilled QA engineers will proactively identify causes of poor quality and require other teams to propose and implement solutions.

QA is also the face of product quality to the outside world. If there’s a quality issue reported from the market or a customer, QA usually represents the factory in external communication—providing reports and corrective action plans to prove the product meets quality standards. This means QA needs strong coordination skills, the ability to write formal reports (like 8D or CAR), and sometimes foreign language skills for overseas customers. Knowledge of SPC (Statistical Process Control) is also essential—otherwise, if your customer knows more than you do, you might end up being led around or even fail to understand their requirements, which can be disastrous.

In general, a QA engineer should have a gentle demeanor but a strong mindset—able to handle pressure from all sides while holding firm to the right direction. When problems arise, pressure from production, shipping, quality complaints, and more can come crashing down at once. The challenge is to stick to the right principles without going overboard with unrealistic quality demands—it’s often a real mental tug-of-war.

As a quality engineer, can you clearly explain the difference between Quality and Reliability?

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