I like the quality of the Menards O-Gauge products, the cars are good-looking, roll easily, and the paint and lettering satisfy my taste in toy trains. The couplers mate with lionel couplers and, so far, none have opened in a moving train.
QUALITY ASSURANCE
Quality assurance is the planned and systematic activities implemented to assure that the will fulfill requirements for quality.
The requirement for a Quality Assurance System is usually written into the contract between the manufacturer and the seller (Menards.)
QUALITY CONTROL
Quality control is the "part of quality management focused on fulfilling quality requirements." Quality Control inspection aspect of quality management. Inspection usually takes place in the manufacturing system, the seller's system, and the buyers' system.
Based on my experience with Menards, I am not doing my part in Menard's quality system... I have not reported my quality inspection findings to Menards.
I wonder if Menards is doing their part. If Menards' contract with their Chinese supplier does not require things like no missing wheels, no half-assembled products, no falling apart products, etc, etc, then the manufacturer is blameless.
TRADITIONAL CHINESE QUALITY CONTROL SYSTEM
That is not a joke. NIST discovered the above when they visited China for the purpose of auditing China's National Institute of Metrology.
Reference: https://en.nim.ac.cn/#:~:text=The%20Nat ... 0science...
https://www.china2west.com/how-to-ensur ... rom-china/
