[originaltext]I: Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Today we are greatly honor

I: Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Today we are greatly honored to have Mr. Alan Gibbons, an inspector from the Australian Industrial Bureau to introduce us an important stage in the production process - quality control. Well, Alan.
A: Good morning everyone.
I: Alan, it is believed that an effective quality control system amounts to an inspection of the finished product. Is that right?
A: It is true in certain aspects. However, it has got problems. The main drawback with a finished product inspection is that it is an "after the act" operation. You know, no amount of inspection can make bad work good at this stage.
I: Then when is the ideal time for quality control?
A: Most large scale manufacturers consider quality control to be an ongoing process. The advantages of this are considerable. It cuts wastage, it saves time, as no hours are lost on work done on already defective items, and perhaps most importantly, it is easier to detect a fault, when the product is still at the component stage.
I: That’s reasonable. So what should quality control begin with?
A: Well, usually with raw materials. If the materials are of sub-standard materials there is no point in processing them. More to the point, sub-standard materials can be returned to the company at no cost to the manufacturer.
I: Mm, this is obvious.
A: Although these benefits seem obvious, you might be surprised to know that only 87% of large firms and 62% of small firms have a standard raw material inspection procedure. For the same reasons, it is a good idea to test components brought in from another company.
I: I see. After that, what should be inspected?
A: In many manufacturing processes, it is useful to carry out some form of quality control on products while they are still being manufactured. It is often easier to check individual components before assembly takes place. Equally, it may be valuable to test components by their function. I suppose the bottom line is that every product and every company has its own requirements and the quality control programme should be arranged accordingly.
I: So if each component functions well, the entire product comes out right.
A: Exactly.
I: Then what are we testing for? I mean do we test the same things out of different products or do we test differently?
A: Of course this depends on the product, too. An expensive car has different requirements from a cheap plastic toy. However, in both cases the most vital testing is for safety.
1. What is the main disadvantage of finished product inspection ?
2. Which one is NOT the advantage of keeping quality control as an ongoing process ?
3. What should quality control begin with?
4. What are the percentages of large firms and small firms in terms of standard raw material inspection procedure?
5. What is the most vital aspect in testing?