There are jobs that require an inspection at certain steps before they can continue. What are these inspections called?

• A. Final inspection
• B. In-process inspection
• C. Acceptance testing
• D. In-line inspection

Answer: (B)

Inspections that happen at defined steps during a job, before the next operation can proceed, are called in-process inspections. This approach catches defects early, stopping the work if a step doesn’t meet requirements so nothing faulty moves forward. It aligns with the practice of building quality into the process—verify each intermediate result, pass only then continue, and address issues immediately rather than dealing with them after everything is completed.

This differs from a final inspection, which checks the finished product only at the end; acceptance testing, which is often about confirming the product meets contractual or customer requirements; and in-line inspections, which are inspections done along the production line but may not emphasize stopping the process at defined milestones in the same way. The term in-process inspection specifically captures the idea of checks at specific steps that must pass before moving on.