Visual Inspection: Top 5 Checklists

This article features:

• How to Effectively Perform a Visual Inspection
• What is a Visual Inspection Software?
• Benefits of Using Software for Visual Inspections
• Visual Inspections with iAuditor
• Raise Your Visual Inspection Game
• Free visual inspection checklists you can download, customize, and use

How to Effectively Perform Visual Inspection

According to the British Institute of Non-Destructive Testing (BINDT), many defects are surface-breaking and can be detected by careful direct visual inspection. In some cases, quality assurance inspectors come up with inconsistent visual inspection results because they either do not completely understand defect specifications or have no references to compare the product with.

As one of the easiest and most cost-effective quality assurance methods, visual inspection procedures vary per industry. Generally, here are 5 simple steps to effectively perform visual inspections:

Step #1 Clearly define defect criteria

Key stakeholders such as quality engineers, production personnel, and customers should reach a consensus on defect specifications. Clearly defined defect criteria enable inspectors to accurately make pass/fail decisions for products. Document the defects with example photographs and technical descriptions for daily visual inspections on the shop floor.

Step #2 Standardize inspection performance

Quality managers should regularly assess the performance of the current inspection process to confirm the consistency of inspectors’ pass/fail decisions. Determine how well the inspectors’ decisions match the established defect criteria to standardize visual inspection performance in the organization. Occasionally, inspectors misinterpret the standard when they lack visual representations of the defects during visual inspections.

Step #3 Analyze visual defects

When inspectors’ decisions on the same products contradict across visual inspections, address the issue by analyzing the most significant visual defects. Evaluate the cost of quality by frequency and defect count to identify which defect type has the greatest impact on daily operations. Quality managers should also consider the cost, time to repair, and importance to the customer to create and implement effective action plans.

Step #4 Communicate improvement measures

After solving issues for specific visual defects, reassess the inspection performance to affirm overall agreement between the inspectors’ decisions and set standards. Objectively convey the results to all safety and quality personnel for accountability and ownership of continuous improvement efforts.

Step #5 Use mobile-ready checklists

Inspectors and quality managers should use mobile-ready visual inspection checklists to increase overall throughput of quality products by more than 200%.

When inspectors can access the defect criteria anytime, anywhere and capture photo evidence of visual defects, accuracy of pass/fail decisions can be radically improved. When quality managers gain visibility through real-time data and actionable insights, wiser business decisions can be made and operational excellence can be achieved.

What is a Visual Inspection Software?

A visual inspection software is a digital tool that allows safety and quality assurance personnel to perform different visual inspections. Perform visual inspections on facilities, products, or structures and enjoy the convenience of performing inspections on a tablet or mobile device.

iAuditor by SafetyCulture, a powerful inspection platform trusted by industry leaders, can help easily identify visual defects, standardize visual inspection performance, and increase overall throughput of quality products. With iAuditor, you can:

• Create mobile-ready visual inspection checklists
• Take photos and add annotations in the app
• Automatically generate and share visual inspection reports to members of the organization. Preview sample report.
• Gain real-time data with iAuditor Analytics
• Use for free with small teams. Unlimited reports and storage for premium accounts. Compare pricing plans.

Benefits of Using Software for Visual Inspections

Visual inspection is one of the oldest and most basic inspection methods that aids in securing quality assurance. It is done by looking over a piece of equipment and using raw human senses such as vision, hearing, touch, and smell to detect flaws.

However, this method can be inconclusive due to the inconsistency of visual inspection results caused by inspectors’ lack of understanding on defect specifications or unavailability of references to compare the product with. Here are the top 3 benefits of using iAuditor to streamline visual inspection procedures:

1. Take a snapshot of day-to-day issues

   Easily identify visual defects and support your visual inspection with photo evidence. Capture photos within the app and provide notes for a more reliable and detailed visual inspection document.

2. Deliver consistency

   Get everyone on the same page with iAuditor. Standardize inspection templates to get a consistent structure of the information you need. Use different types of responses like multiple choices, text answers, checkboxes, and more. Provide instructions and reference photos to remove the guesswork from inspections.

3. Gain better insight on your business

   Translate your inspection findings into actionable insights. Get real-time visibility on your productivity, compliance, accuracy, and other data you need to level up.

Visual Inspections with iAuditor

Make even the most basic method of inspection more efficient with today’s technological advances. With iAuditor as a visual inspection software, raise your inspection and quality control management game, while ensuring adherence to safety regulations and quality standards. Below are a few ways iAuditor can improve visual inspections:

Explicitly define defect criteria

Clearly defining defect criteria helps inspectors give an accurate pass/fail rating on inspected products. Using iAuditor, guide your inspectors on their inspections by providing references for templates used. Enable your team to document defects and support them with photographs and descriptions to enhance accuracy of visual inspection audits and reports.

Standardize your inspections

Standardize the way your inspections look to get the exact information you need. In customizing your inspection forms, you may choose from different types of responses such as multiple choices, text answers, checkboxes, dates, numbers, or even temperature levels. This removes the guesswork from your team’s inspections, making data collection consistent and accurate.

Address issues as they arise

Old methods using pen and paper might have taken your team longer to resolve issues because someone had to manually create and compile all reports. With iAuditor, such processes are minimized if not eliminated completely. Each time a team member completes an inspection, a report is automatically generated and data goes to your analytics dashboard. Data analytics provides you a bird’s eye view of which equipment needs your utmost attention.

Boost team collaboration and communication

Enable your team to perform visual inspections simultaneously using a standardized template. With iAuditor’s visual inspection templates, you can empower your people to immediately come up with resolutions for issues they encounter during the inspection. iAuditor’s collaborative actions feature allows team members to assign actions to people across their organization and set a priority level, provide instructions or a description of the issue, and set a due date to collaboratively resolve issues.

Visual Inspection App

Equip your team with a visual inspection software that is easy to learn and simple to integrate into your existing workflow. Boost your inspection game with iAuditor to make visual inspections seamless, leveraging collected data to help you standardize quality protocols across the organization.