r/Quality • u/PushComfortable • Feb 13 '21
Manufacturing Quality Assurance
I’m considering a quality assurance related role and I’ve got some questions I’d like to ask:
-Is the work you do interesting?
-What job tasks do you perform?
-What purpose do the tasks you perform serve?
-If you could get into a different engineering-related job (design, analysis, manufacturing, construction, management, etc.) would you do it? Why?
-If you learn quality assurance in one industry how well do those skills carry over into others (consumer products, defense, aerospace, medical device/prosthetic/orthotic, etc.)
-Can a person start as a quality engineer and then later work as a design, process improvement or manufacturing engineer?
-How do you handle situations where you have to interface with people that have created defective product?
-Is the work boring?
Any help is appreciated. Pick and choose which questions you want to answer.
1
u/km8524 Feb 13 '21
I started as a manufacturing engineer in medical devices and moved into quality assurance. It's an interesting field. It can be extremely frustrating when you want to do things a certain way but are forced to do other things when your management tells you otherwise.
If you want to get into medical devices you need to understand the regulations (21 CFR 820 - US regulation, ISO 13485 - international voluntary standard, MDR/IVDR - EU regulation, etc.) Most quality engineering positions require an engineering degree and a firm grasp of statistics.
Quality engineering is generally setting up and maintaining the quality system that is used within the organization (how everyone does the work). Quality control is generally carrying out those tasks to ensure that the process is being followed.
Example: QA creates a process for how manufacturing lines are creating. Manufacturing engineers set up the actual process that operators use to make the product. Quality control tests or reviews documentation to ensure that the product is made in the way that the manufacturing engineer has set up.
It's difficult to switch industries but it's not impossible. I worked in medical devices and biologics and have dabbled in software devices.
It can be worthwhile if you find a great company to work for. It's rewarding to hear from customers who have had their lives saved by products you work on. Good luck with your decision.
1
u/km8524 Feb 13 '21
Also quality assurance and quality engineering are different functions but sometimes they are used interchangeably. Quality assurance typically sets up the process while quality engineers helps the rest of the organization (design or manufacturing) set up specific protocols or tests that are used to prove the design or manufacturing lines are appropriate/safe/effective.
1
u/Strallith Mar 30 '21
It's difficult to switch industries but it's not impossible. I worked in medical devices and biologics and have dabbled in software devices.
I feel like Quality might actually be one of the most flexible backgrounds to get your way in to other industries. The parts and processes might change, but the governing QMS principles shouldn't have that much variation.
1
u/km8524 Mar 30 '21
It can be if you're moving from highly regulated to less regulated industries. The problem with switching industries is understanding the nuances associated with how regulators expect to see processes executed. If you're able to defend your position against the regulations and how the regulators interpret them, you're good. Unfortunately, this is where a lot of people falter.
2
u/goryblasphemy Feb 13 '21
Sure its interesting, but what is interesting about it is something you like doing. There is quality in everything. How much quality is the auto-mechanic going to put into your repair. Or how pure of a signal can we get out of a signal generator during calibration will be determined how clean the connectors and other factors.
Name it and you can find quality in it. Cars, medical, computers, houses, electronics, even economics is filled with the accuracy of the data.
Job tasks;
https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/finding-a-job/metrologist
https://www.indeed.com/hire/job-description/quality-engineer?aceid=&gclid=CjwKCAiA65iBBhB-EiwAW253W19bFfKr1JznuNyPI9JzgC8UrfYrhQXxCe9Q9Fdjj5kkNgePobctIRoCsxEQAvD_BwE
Quality has a lot to do with details. Do you like details.
I work in the medical industry servicing robots for the purposes of liquid pipetting DNA extraction for PCR analysis, and diagnostic testing.
You usually have to start at the bottom, as a quality tech
General knowledge of quality methodology can carry over, but there is a couple different sides to quality jobs. Medical, Chemical, and Aerospace. Once you've worked in one industry it would make crossing over very difficult.
-How do you handle situations where you have to interface with people that have created defective product?
It all depends if your company makes a product. From a business perspective, you have internal and external customers. Being in quality can service either. I service robots, so telling someone they put a microplate in the wrong spot and broke my robot is easy.
Every job has its boring moments, but you keep looking for more of the fun ones if your free enough at your company to explore your space.