Inspections and Audits using a Quality Control App

16th January

Offline surveys have long been a cornerstone of Quality control, providing businesses with invaluable insights into their products and services. In an increasingly digital age, it's easy to overlook the importance of offline surveys in ensuring accuracy and reliability. The NestForms mobile form app is the go to software and essential tool for collecting unbiased data in a wide range of inspection scenarios. NestForms is perfect for use as a Quality Control app.

Offline surveys offer several unique advantages. Firstly, they allow for face-to-face interactions, enabling respondents to ask questions and seek clarification. This personal touch helps to foster a deeper level of engagement and encourages more honest and detailed responses.

Additionally, offline surveys reduce the inaccuracies caused when using paper-based inspection, audit and checklist forms. Also, the NestForms Quality Control app has a digital Signature feature allowing inspections to be validated in an instant. Data can then be analysed straightaway.   

Types of Offline Surveys Commonly used in Quality Control

There are various types of offline surveys commonly used in quality control. One such example is the in-person interview survey. Conducted by trained inspectors, these offline surveys involve face-to-face interactions with the workforce. This method is often used when gathering detailed feedback or conducting in-depth research. 

In-person interview surveys allow for real-time probing and follow-up questions to ensure a thorough understanding of the interviewees perspective.

This type of survey is particularly valuable for qualitative data collection, where the richness and depth of responses are crucial. The NestForms offline survey app provides many features allowing administrators to build forms suitable for face to face interviews.

Moreover, offline surveys provide a greater amount of security and privacy. Interviewees can feel more comfortable sharing sensitive information in a confidential setting, leading to more accurate data. This is particularly important in quality control, where staff may need to disclose details about product defects, service failures, or other sensitive issues.

Within NestForms the most common question types used on many forms include Single answer, Multiple answers and Dropdown components. The survey flow is greatly enhanced by allowing a responder to ask quick fire questions, for example ‘Yes, No, Don't know’ etc. Interviewees can select from longer lists if required. With Multiple answers people can check as many items as they wish from a list.

The Skip logic feature means that irrelevant questions or even whole sections can be bypassed based on an earlier answer. A tailored form created with Skip logic provides greater speed and accuracy within the interview and enhances the user experience.

Another type of survey form might include repetitive checks on machinery, gauge settings or meter readings. So, as well as using the components already mentioned, numerical data must also be presented within a response. By inserting a Number component into your form you can refine how any numerical data is presented.

The Calculate component provides the option to perform calculations on certain values taken from responses to other components within the form.

Designing Offline Surveys for Quality Control App Inspections

Designing effective offline surveys is crucial to ensure accurate and reliable data collection. Here are some key considerations:

1. Define the survey objectives:

Before creating the survey questions, it's essential to clearly define the objectives of the survey. What specific information are you trying to gather? What insights are you hoping to gain?

By clearly defining the objectives, you can tailor the survey questions to ensure you collect the most relevant and current data. Is it a face to face interview, equipment check or machinery inspection? Are you simply providing a checklist for the inspector? Is it a more detailed audit as part of legal requirements?  

2. Keep it concise and focused:

When designing offline surveys, it's important to keep the questionnaire concise and focused. Long and complex surveys can lead to respondent fatigue and reduced data quality. Focus on the key areas of interest and ask clear, straightforward questions to maximise response rates and data accuracy.

Where forms are more lengthy and complex the NestForms Feature button allows responders to save their progress as they carry out a Quality Control audit.  

3. Use a mix of question types:

Utilise a mix of question types to gather different types of information. Closed-ended questions with predefined response options are useful for quantitative data analysis, while open-ended questions allow respondents to provide more detailed and nuanced feedback.

By using a combination of question types, you can gather both quantitative and qualitative data, providing a comprehensive understanding of the quality control issues at hand. The NestForms Quality Control app has you covered in this respect with its feature rich suite of question components.

4. Pilot test the survey:

Before sharing your inspection or checklist form to colleagues on the ground, it's important to pilot test it with a small sample of your responders. This allows you to identify any potential issues or areas for improvement in the survey design and flow.

Pilot testing helps ensure that the survey is clear, unbiased, and effectively captures the data required.

You also need to consider the environment where instruments, machinery, electrical equipment etc are being carried out on a factory floor or warehouse. You will definitely need to consider safety hazards for the inspecting party. We don't want the inspector involved in a workplace accident during an inspection!

Checks on plant machinery might require an inspector to provide GPS coordinates when moving from site to site. An administrator can include a Note component within the form. This provides the opportunity to provide clear instruction for inspectors on walk around audits.

Items of machinery may also require identification. With the QR and barcode component, a responder is able to scan items using the iOS or Android device camera. The NestForms Quality Control app has a ‘Clone section’ feature for similar checks that need to be repeated on the same items.

Analysing Data from Quality Control Offline Surveys

Once the data has been collected using the NestForms mobile form app, it's time to analyse and interpret the findings. Here are some steps to guide you through the process:

1. Clean and organise the data:

Before analysis can begin, it's important to clean and organise the data. This involves checking for any missing or inconsistent responses and addressing any data entry errors.

Once the data is clean and consistent, it can be organised in a way that facilitates analysis, such as creating spreadsheets or databases. With the NestForms Quality Control app you can manage your responses in many ways. 

2. Identify patterns and trends:

Analyse the data to identify patterns and trends. Look for common themes or recurring issues that emerge from the responses. This can be done through quantitative analysis, such as calculating frequencies or percentages, as well as qualitative analysis, where responses are categorised and coded.

By identifying patterns and trends, you can gain insights into the quality control issues and make informed decisions for improvement.

3. Communicate the results:

Communicate the results of the offline survey to relevant stakeholders. Clearly and concisely convey the key findings, insights, and recommendations to ensure that the survey results inform decision-making and drive quality improvement initiatives. With our offline survey app you can easily share Branded and Custom PDF reports to any client parties through a dedicated VIP area. 

Conclusion: The Future of Offline Surveys in Quality Control

In conclusion, businesses can embrace the power of the NestForms Quality Control app and strive for a balanced approach that combines offline and online data collection.

By leveraging the strengths of both approaches, businesses can ensure that their quality control processes are based on accurate, reliable, and actionable data

Offline surveys are a valuable tool for quality control in the present and the future. By recognising their importance and incorporating them into quality management strategies, businesses can achieve excellence in their products, services, and processes.

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Please view an example Quality Control template. You can tailor this to suit your audit or inspection.

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