Product Quality Made Company Talking Make Things High

In American "factories" (buildings that are owned by companies and used to make products) "quality control," or the process of making sure that all the things being made have the same high quality, is very important.

Some quality control happens before a product is made and sold. For example, when a company designs a new computer, it uses "failure testing," which is when they use the product as much as possible to see how long it will "last" (continue to work) before breaking. The company might turn the computer on and off many times, drop it from a roof, put it in an oven, or spill soda on it to find out how well the computer "resists" (doesn't let something happen) breaking.

Other quality control efforts happen while the product is being made or once it is finished but before it is sold. Almost all factories have "inspectors," or people whose job is to look at the products and make sure that they meet certain "standards" (requirements for how something should be). Some inspectors look at "intermediate products" (things that are made to be part of something else) and other inspectors look at the "final products" (things that are sold to consumers). Sometimes "robots" (machines that do work that humans used to do) do the inspection.

Many factories and organizations talk about "six sigma" quality, which refers to "statistics" (the science that studies how likely things are to happen) and the idea that the "probability" (or likelihood) of having a problem with the product should be less than four in one million. A six-sigma company has very high quality, but it is difficult to "achieve" (be able to get or do something) that level.