Inspections Might Not Be Enough

Once you have a proper quality controls system in place for your production needs, this means having a complete process on how to order, test, reject and rectify any problems of parts coming into the plant, there should be a back-up plan in place. This means that there should be simple steps put in place for the staff that are using the parts to identify and double check that they are using the correct parts, and that these parts are up to the specifications that you require.
This doesn't mean that the employees on the floor should be running all of the same tests that the people in quality control ran, but they should be able to do some simple things that could avoid simple problems. One of the biggest problems is misuse of similar parts. If you can identify with markings such as placards or signage or even colored bins that the parts are in, you can avoid simple mix-ups such as this.
Also, the employees that are using the parts should be able to quickly identify certain things like material that the parts are made of or strength requirements. For example, fasteners are an important part of almost every production and bolts and nuts come in different grades of hardness and strength. It is required by law that these fasteners have identification markings on each one of them, not just a manufacturing code, but the grade or strength of the fastener.
Employees should know simple things such as what the markings mean so that if they are supposed to be using a high strength bolt, that they are not inadvertently using a lower strength bolt because they do not understand what the markings mean. This is a simple training, just a few minutes that could save a lot of money and heartache down the road. A mix-up like using lower strength bolts could result in thousands of dollars worth of labor, not to mention the problems if the parts actually start to fail out in the field.
And it can be fixed by something as simple as training the personnel what the head markings mean and placing signage next to the parts. Taking the initiative and investing a few minutes and a few dollars could make all of the difference in the long run, mistakes can always be fixed, but a reputation is harder to fix and earning back the trust of a customer is even harder to do.