What Is a Quality Engineer? Job, Salary, & Skills to Become One

Quality engineering is the key to many products that shape our day to day lives. From the phone we talk on, computer we work on, or vehicle we commute in, a quality engineer plays a vital role in making the goods and devices we spend so much of our lives relying on.

What is a Quality Engineer?

Quality engineers review existing processes in order to identify opportunities for reducing costs and increasing efficiency. As necessary, they investigate the root causes of problems, develop and implement corrective and preventative measures.

The goal of quality engineers is to maintain the production process as efficiently and effectively as possible while still ensuring that the finished products are safe, dependable, and satisfy customer expectations. They design quality tests, develop the documentation, and test procedures, keep track of quality standards, and specify the requirements that a test result must satisfy. Quality engineers keep an eye on a process’s quality and are crucial in resolving problems when they come up.

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What Does a Quality Engineer Do?

At every stage of the manufacturing process, quality engineers collaborate with various stakeholders, such as testing by design teams, to determine product robustness and weak points. They engage with suppliers to ensure that raw materials and parts match the company’s quality standards. Teams in charge of manufacturing make sure that tools and procedures adhere to set quality standards. 

The development of quality practices, standard operating procedures (SOPs), and pertinent documentation for a particular product or plant are frequently assigned to quality engineers. They set out the relevant tests and acceptable findings to ensure adequate quality testing throughout the production process. They analyze complaints received through consumer feedback, keep track of events, and change production as necessary. Additionally, it is the responsibility of the quality engineer to thoroughly document any errors and collaborate with other engineers to identify a fix. A Quality engineer has to coordinate with all departments and ensure that the product is up to date.

Quality Assurance

A quality management system is often used to implement quality assurance on the factory floor . A codified quality management system (QMS) records the processes, methods, and roles involved in accomplishing quality policies and objectives. Quality Assurance is process-oriented, focusing on reducing process variance through the development, revision, and strict application of a set of precisely specified processes or quality standards that, when properly adhered to, guarantee the final product’s quality. By its very nature, quality assurance is preventative, and it aids in directing and coordinating an organization’s operations to satisfy the client and legal obligations.

Quality Control

People who work in quality control (QC) typically (but not always) have a scientific or laboratory background because sample testing is done in a lab when pharmaceuticals are manufactured. In product-oriented quality control, a manufacturing process sample is examined to determine whether it complies with the necessary design requirements or quality standards.

Six Sigma

By locating and eliminating the root causes of errors and reducing unpredictability in production and business processes, it seeks to increase the quality of the output of a process. The Six Sigma methodology, created by Motorola and popularized by Jack Welch at General Electric, is a set of tools and procedures for process improvement.

Quality by Design

Quality by design is essential because more testing only sometimes results in a higher-quality product, quality by design is crucial, and it frequently has the opposite impact. Most quality crises and issues stem from how a product was initially created.

The Taguchi Method

Taguchi advises using materials that function under various situations, low-cost off-the-shelf tested components, and statistical experimentation. What Taguchi refers to as the loss function mathematically in the process defines the loss.

Quality Risk Management

It is a technique for anticipating disaster and devising preventive measures involving designing the issue or proceduralizing the case. This process frequently requires manufacturing, testing, and distributing pharmaceutical and medical device items. Worst-case scenario planning is heavily utilized to identify potential problems and develop solutions to reduce risks.

Reliability Engineering

Reliability Engineering is employed to avoid failures or to lessen their frequency or likelihood. It is used to determine and address the root causes of failures that nonetheless happen despite the best attempts to prevent them. If the reasons for failures are not fixed, it decides how to handle them when they do occur. It utilizes techniques for figuring out how reliable new designs will be. Additionally, it makes use of statistical analysis and engineering methods to increase the dependability or reliability of a process or product that is exposed to environmental factors such as vibration, shock loading, voltage, radiation, extremely high or low temperatures, fatigue, or other environmental factors for a predetermined amount of time in a predetermined environment.

How to Become a Quality Engineer

Looking to start a new career in this field? Becoming successful requires a balanced mix of education, training, skills, and experience.

Start your career in three simple steps:

1. Get Educated

Quality engineers are required to have, at minimum, an associate’s degree in quality engineering. Through your education, you’ll learn the basics of quality assurance, including regulations (both state and national), documentation, and testing practices. Some senior positions may also require a master’s degree in quality assurance. 

2. Get Experienced

Before getting certified in this field, you must build experience in the field. Get your feet wet with entry-level positions or internships to exercise your education and gain the real-world experience required to become successful.

3. Get Certified

With an associate’s degree and work experience under your belt, you’re ready to get your quality engineer certification by the American Society for Quality. The CQE Certification Exam covers topics such as management and leadership, the quality system, product and process design, product and process control, continuous improvement, quantitative methods and tools, and risk management. Once you’ve attained your CQE certification, you must renew it every three years to ensure your knowledge is up to date.

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Skills Required for a Career in Quality Engineering

In this role, education is only the tip of the iceberg. Along with your associate’s degree and CQE Certification, you’ll require a number of hard and soft skills to help you effectively control and measure the quality of manufacturing practices and goods.

Hard and soft skills beneficial to this career include:

• Mathematics 
• Computers
• Communication
• Attention to detail
• Critical thinking
• Teamwork
• Creativity
• Time management

Quality Engineer Salary

On average, a quality engineer’s salary is $78,636 per year in the United States. In addition to the impressive salary, employees in this occupation often receive benefits including 401(k) and 401(k) matching, health insurance, and dental insurance.

What are the Quality Engineer’s Responsibilities?

A major player within the production of goods, a quality engineer is responsible for the overall quality of manufactured products. 

Though tasks may vary depending on the organization, common responsibilities include:

• Establish and implement quality standards
• Monitor workflows, processes, and products
• Create quality documentation
• Collaborate with operations managers to identify opportunities for improvements to workflow and controls, to ensure they comply with health and safety codes and regulations
• Review systems and processes to develop continued improvements and efficiencies
• Inspect and test processes and products to ensure they meet or exceed standards

Analyze manufacturing data and reports

Work toward continuous improvement within the manufacturing process through a variety of techniques including, but not limited to Six Sigma, quality by design, quality by control, and quality assurance

Top Industries with a Demand for Quality Engineers

Several industries that are dependent on manufacturing environments and laboratories rely on quality engineers to test system processes and monitor quality standards. 

A few of the top industries include:

Technology

Quality engineers test, inspect, and analyze computers and other electronics to make sure they meet set safety and control standards. Find jobs as a quality engineer in the technology industry.

Food and Beverage

Quality engineers play a vital role in the food and beverage industry as even the smallest error in production can cause a ripple effect, impacting the health and safety of consumers and destroying public trust. Find jobs as a quality engineer in food and beverage.

Automotive

Quality engineers in the automotive industry work across all phases of product development to make sure the vehicles that get us from point A to B are safe and manufactured to specification. Find jobs as a quality engineer in automotive.

Medical and Pharmaceutical 

Working within FDA regulations, professionals in the medical and pharmaceutical industries work to develop safe and quality medical equipment and medications. Find jobs as a quality engineer in pharmaceuticals.

Aviation, Space, and Defense

Quality engineers in the aviation, space, and defense industry oversee and maintain quality standards and compliance with legislation that are detrimental to public safety. Find jobs as a quality engineer in aviation, space, and defense.

Energy (Oil, Gas, Nuclear, and Chemical)

Quality engineers within the energy industry work with manufacturers to develop processes, test procedures, implement systems, and analyze efficiencies among various types of renewable energy. Find jobs as a quality engineer in energy.

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FAQs

1. Is quality engineer a good career?

Yes, Quality Engineering can be a good career option. As a Quality Engineer, you will be responsible for ensuring the quality of products or services produced by a company. This can be a challenging and rewarding role that requires strong analytical skills, attention to detail, and the ability to work with a variety of teams.

2. Are quality engineers real engineers?

Yes, Quality Engineers are real engineers. They are responsible for ensuring that products or services meet the required quality standards and specifications. Quality Engineers typically have an engineering background, and their job involves applying engineering principles to ensure the reliability, safety, and effectiveness of products or services.

3. What is the role of a quality engineer?

The role of a Quality Engineer is to ensure that products or services meet the required quality standards and specifications. This involves creating and implementing quality control processes, conducting product testing and analysis, identifying areas for improvement, and collaborating with other teams to ensure that quality standards are met throughout the production process.

4. Do quality engineers require coding?

While coding skills are not typically required for a Quality Engineer, having a basic understanding of coding principles and software development can be beneficial. This can help Quality Engineers to identify and troubleshoot issues related to software quality, and to collaborate effectively with developers and other technical teams.