The Certified Quality Engineer (CQE) understands product and service quality evaluation and control principles. This body of information and applied technologies include, but are not limited to: development and maintenance of quality control systems, application, and analysis of testing and examination procedures, the ability to manage metrology and statistical methods to diagnose and correct inappropriate quality control practices, and knowledge of human factors and motivation, familiarity with quality cost concepts and techniques, and the knowledge and expertise to improve and administer management information systems and to audit quality systems for need identification and correction.
The role of a quality engineer can change from industry to industry and even within companies. With a qualification in engineering, a quality engineer typically uses his or her day assuring that the company’s processes are working correctly and to the expected specification. Often, an engineer in this type of role also actively attempts to develop methods and trains operators in the necessary procedures.
Quality engineers can find jobs in many fields of engineering. Typically, the engineer supervises a manufacturing system that creates a product such as pharmaceuticals, technological developments, or even clothing. The company pays him or her to ensure the manufacturing process and other support processes run smoothly.
Getting the Quality Engineer Job
Quality engineering positions can be found via popular job search techniques such as employment search engines, internet job boards, state and local employment agencies, and recruiting services. Jobs can also be found in a type of classified samples and industry trade journals. It is also essential for students to participate in an industry internship to gain experience.
What Does a Quality Engineer Do?
Often, a person in a quality engineering job spends much of the day investigating and testing the manufacturing process’s engineering integrity. Where a fault happens or a potential danger to the efficiency of the process is present. The engineer can move in and organize a plan to fix and correct the situation. Areas where the process can be changed, are also of interest to most qualified engineers. They can spend part of the day knowing such segments of the company and developing strategies to change them.
Typically, manufacturing processes are required to comply with industry standards. The engineer, therefore, must be easy with the standards and be ready to work within the limits of specific legal requirements. When a product does not correspond to the needs, they must first identify the aberration and then find the cause. Some quality engineer roles are not in production but rather in the research stage of a particular product. Working out a good and efficient process is the first step to commercial production.
In addition to solid engineering knowledge and applying that experience to processes, a quality engineer’s job may also have other, less technical aspects. Often, the role requires dealing with suppliers and customers. Interpersonal skills may also be necessary if the engineer has to present reports to supervisors or act as part of a team. Teamwork can be beneficial when interdepartmental cooperation is required to make a change in production.
At the minimum, a quality engineer requires an associate’s degree, which typically takes two years to make. Many roles require a bachelor’s degree, and some may require further training, such as a master’s degree. The industry’s experience in a previous role related to quality control is sometimes also beneficial to people seeking quality engineer roles.
Quality Engineers must be well informed about the practice and application of problem-solving tools. They should be experts in process development and troubleshooting. A Quality Engineer must be able to learn and discover the process issues. This will enable them to develop efficient countermeasures, including process or product changes. These are required to ensure that quality standards are upheld. The results are that the customer’s demands and expectations are met or surpassed.
Conclusion
There are tremendous benefits of Quality Engineering. It will have a positive effect on customer satisfaction. Voice of Customers is heard through the effective management of Quality Engineering methods and tools. These are used during the product design, development, and implementation processes. Embed this into the product design, such that quality is planned and built into the product. Quality engineering systems should be performed appropriately using appropriate tools. This can have a significant impact on product quality and cost.
