[QC Certification] A story about how your perspective might change the more you learn

What comes to mind when you hear the term "Quality Control"?

Checks on the production floor, product management, expiration dates on labels, and so on.
It can also have an image of being strict or even a bit tedious, right?

Did you know there is a certification for this quality control?
I earned the Level 3 certification myself, and I feel that through my studies, the way I see work and things has changed a little.

This is a story about that.

What is the QC Certification?

I think it is a certification where you can learn the concepts and tools for stabilizing quality in a step-by-step manner.
It might be easy to understand if you think of Level 4 and 3 as the basics, Level 2 for floor leaders, and Level 1 for those who want to deepen their expertise.
Isn't the benefit that you start to focus on preventing recurrence and creating systems rather than just point-based improvements?

The Quality Control Certification is held twice a year in major cities across the country.
Level 1 and 2 are written exams, while Level 3 and 4 are computer-based exams, so the method of taking the exam changes depending on the level.

For details, please check the link below.

Benefits of learning (mixed with my own experience)

• Root cause analysis becomes more consistent
  You will be able to trace "why a defect occurred" not just by intuition, but through data and procedures. I feel that you stop rushing to conclusions and the flow of hypothesis to verification becomes more natural.

• Creates a common language for the workplace
  I think that by aligning the images of terms like "variation," "process capability," and "control state," discussions become easier to engage in.

• Effective for eliminating waste and preventing recurrence
  You won't end up with just symptomatic treatments, but will focus on standardization and prevention. I think it becomes easier to accumulate small improvements.

• Becomes a foundation for your career
  Quality is related not only to manufacturing but also to design, purchasing, and service. It might be useful as a "template" that is applicable even if you change departments.

First, the "QC Seven Tools"

The basic introductory set is said to be the following seven tools.
If you grasp their names and how to use them, I think it will become easier to visualize the phenomena occurring in the actual workplace.

• Pareto Chart: Makes it easier to find factors with a large impact.

• Cause and Effect Diagram: Organizes candidate causes to reduce omissions in hypotheses.

• Graphs/Histograms: Grasp the 'shape' of distributions and biases.

• Scatter plots: Get a feel for the relationship between two variables.

• Control charts: Check if a process is stable over time.

• Check sheets: Organize data into a format that is easy to collect on-site.

I feel that expanding to the 'New QC Seven Tools' (affinity diagrams, relations diagrams, tree diagrams, etc.) as needed makes them easy to use for organizing ideas and planning.

Things that 'changed' through my learning

• The habit of creating check sheets first
  I was able to reduce instances of realizing later that 'the essential data is missing'.

• Looking at 'variation' rather than just the average
  I feel I have become more sensitive to the shape of graphs and when control limits are exceeded.

• Formulating hypotheses before meetings to address defects
  By organizing hypotheses about the causes of defects before the meeting, it became easier to specify how to collect data for verification and how to proceed with the verification. As a result, I think discussions are less likely to go off-track, and it has become easier to decide on the next experiments or confirmation items.

Even if it is not perfect, I feel that by simply trying to use the tools, it has become easier to identify the likely causes.

Summary

I feel that learning for the QC certification was more about acquiring a 'pattern of thinking' than the qualification itself.
Visualizing phenomena with the seven tools and running the hypothesis-verification-standardization cycle on a small scale—couldn't such a step be the key to untangling the 'small bottlenecks' in the workplace?

If you are interested, try looking up the differences in levels and how to take the exam, and try using just one tool on a task at hand.
From there, the way you see your work or products might change just a little bit.

Thank you for reading this far.
I would be happy if this was even a little bit helpful!❗✨