New
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Lesson 14 of 18
  • Year 10

Quality assurance when manufacturing: communal areas

I can manufacture accurately and to a high quality.

Lesson 14 of 18
New
New
  • Year 10

Quality assurance when manufacturing: communal areas

I can manufacture accurately and to a high quality.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Designers and manufacturers use quality assurance (QA) and quality control (QC).
  2. Quality assurance is about checking the planning and processes.
  3. Quality control is about checking the product to make sure it meets the required standard.
  4. When QA and QC checks take place, they are ensuring accuracy.

Keywords

  • Manufacture - the process of making products from raw materials using machines or labour

  • Quality assurance - ensuring the production process prevents mistakes and maintains quality

  • Quality control - checks made on a product before, during and after its production so it meets quality and safety standards

  • Accuracy - being correct and precise

  • Tolerance - the acceptable range of variation in a product's dimensions

Common misconception

Quality control and quality assurance is the same thing.

Quality control focuses on identifying defects in finished products, while quality assurance is about preventing defects through planned processes and systems during production.


To help you plan your year 10 design and technology lesson on: Quality assurance when manufacturing: communal areas, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

Defining the difference between these two areas will be the key point of this lesson as these are so often muddled or misunderstood.
Teacher tip

Equipment

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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Prior knowledge starter quiz

Download quiz pdf

6 Questions

Q1.
Which examples are thermopolymers?

epoxy resin
urea formaldehyde
Correct answer: acrylic (PMMA)
Correct answer: high impact polysyrene (HIPS)
Correct answer: polypropylene (PP)

Q2.
Thermoforming is a __________ process which uses heat and a force to change the shape of polymers.

wasting
Correct answer: fabricating
deforming
reforming

Q3.
Thermopolymers can reach temperatures of over 200°C during thermoforming. Therefore it is important to ...

Correct answer: wear PPE.
Correct answer: wear heat-resistant gloves.
Correct answer: ventilate the room.
only do it in the winter.
only allow adults to thermoform.

Q4.
Strip heaters are used to heat up a strip or line across a piece of polymer. This is then held in a vice or to cool in the desired shape.

Correct Answer: former, bending jig, jig

Q5.
What is a common thermopolymer use in the thermoforming process?

epoxy resin
urea formaldehyde
Correct answer: high impact polystyrene (HIPS)
carbon fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP)

Q6.
What is this mechanical fixing called?

An image in a quiz
Correct Answer: rivet, pop rivet, a rivet, a pop rivet

Assessment exit quiz

Download quiz pdf

4 Questions

Q1.
Quality checks the planning and processes.

Correct Answer: assurance

Q2.
Which of these would be quality control checks?

Correct answer: measuring finished parts
use of jigs and templates
Correct answer: using a go/no go gauge
creating detailed working drawings with dimensions

Q3.
What is the term used for the acceptable range of variation in a product's dimensions?

Correct answer: tolerance
precision
calibration

Q4.
Name this tool.

An image in a quiz
tape measure
ruler
digital ruler
Correct answer: digital vernier caliper
Correct answer: digital measure