quality control

Meaning

A system of maintaining standards in manufactured products or services by testing output against specifications. It focuses on identifying, correcting, and eliminating defects or errors before products reach the final customer.

Examples

• The batch was rejected by quality control due to a minor packaging defect.

  The batch was rejected by quality control due to a minor packaging defect.

• We need to tighten our quality control procedures to prevent these software bugs from reaching production.

  We need to tighten our quality control procedures to prevent these software bugs from reaching production.

• She works as a quality control inspector at a pharmaceutical plant.

  She works as a quality control inspector at a pharmaceutical plant.

• Investing in quality control now will save us thousands of dollars in customer returns later.

  Investing in quality control now will save us thousands of dollars in customer returns later.

• Our commitment to strict quality control is what sets us apart from our competitors.

  Our commitment to strict quality control is what sets us apart from our competitors.

Common Mistakes

• ✗ The factory has a very good control of quality.

  ✓ The factory has very good quality control.

  'Quality control' is a fixed compound noun in business English. Rearranging it to 'control of quality' sounds unnatural and non-standard.

• ✗ We need to quality control these items before shipping.

  ✓ We need to perform quality control on these items before shipping.

  While sometimes used informally as a verb, 'quality control' is primarily a noun. In professional contexts, it is better to use it with verbs like 'perform', 'conduct', or 'run'.

Related Expressions

Practice

• Every single device undergoes rigorous ___ before leaving the factory.

  💡 The process of checking products for defects.

  Show answer

  quality control

• A failure in ___ resulted in thousands of defective toys being shipped to stores.

  💡 The department or system responsible for product standards.

  Show answer

  quality control