Quality managers oversee production processes to ensure high-quality products and services. They work with management teams to develop efficient development processes, instruct workers to carry out checks during production, and gather customer feedback to improve products. A diploma or associate training is usually required, and certification from the American Society for Quality is recommended. Popular classes include CAD, math, statistics, and science. Retesting every three years is recommended to stay up to date with the field.
Businesses can succeed or fail based on the quality of the products and services they provide, and a quality manager oversees workers and production processes to ensure that customers receive the high-quality items they expect. From instructing and advising workers to checking products for problems during the various stages of production, quality managers are key to developing a system that produces better results and catches any items that do not meet required standards. They play a role in physical product inspections and meetings to design new ways to create those products.
A manufacturing company provides an excellent overview of a quality manager at work. Before creating a product, the quality manager works with another management team to brainstorm an efficient development process. She may be responsible for a variety of decisions, including choosing the best materials to use, choosing an assembly line system that runs safely and efficiently at the lowest cost, and creating a system of checks that each product must pass before being sent.
Once the actual production process has started, the quality manager instructs others to carry out checks at specific points during production. If a product has a fault, it is fixed or scrapped. Finished products must undergo careful inspection, and often testing, before being released to buyers.
The quality manager’s job doesn’t end when the product leaves the factory, however. She continues to find ways to improve the product by gathering customer feedback. She also looks at the data to determine where she can improve the product itself or the methods used to develop it.
To start working as a quality manager, a diploma or associate training is usually required. A bachelor’s degree offers the most flexibility at work and often leads to higher-paying work. Upon graduation, a quality manager should seek certification from the American Society for Quality (ASQ). This two-part exam consists of multiple-choice questions and a written essay. To take the exam without a degree, ASQ recommends candidates have 10 years of personal experience working as a quality manager.
Popular classes and training for quality managers include computer-aided design (CAD), math and statistics, and science classes. Leadership training also helps prepare potential candidates for a top management position. When the candidate is ready to take the certification exam, they can find practice tests and study guides available on ASQ to prepare for the test. To stay on top of the ever-changing quality management and assurance field, ASQ recommends that managers retest every three years.
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