Quality Assurance vs. Quality Control: Understanding the Key Differences for Organisational Success

Posted on Dec 12, 2023 at 11:12 PM

Who do you think would win in a battle of quality assurance vs. quality control? Where do these concepts stand in the world of quality-oriented management? Are these processes enough to ensure no defects in your products?

Moreover, quality assurance vs. quality control are two of the major buzzwords going on right now. Still, many need a more profound understanding of these procedures, which is why we're here today to debunk all the myths surrounding these two concepts, so read along to learn more about quality assurance and control.

What is the difference between quality assurance and quality control?

And so the most critical question goes. What tells these two activities apart? What are the definitions of quality assurance vs. quality control? And how can you distinguish them from one another?

Let's put it this way: Imagine you're a master chef creating a dish masterpiece. Quality assurance would be buying the meat from a trusted seller, sticking to health standards and preventing cooking accidents. 

Quality assurance is a proactive measure focused on preventing mishaps throughout the quality management process and correcting them before the final output (the dish) is presented.

On the other hand, quality control is your food critic, judging your dish and identifying any errors before serving it to the customers. Quality control is the systematic examination, testing, and inspection of the final products or services to discover discrepancies or non-conformities. 

This is also critical to confirm that the final outcome has attained or surpassed set benchmarks. Quality control is a reactive measure aiming to locate and address any shortcomings in the final product.

 Which comes first, QA or QC?

As far as effective quality management is concerned, QA typically precedes QC within an entire process. QA starts from the very beginning by setting up systems, procedures, and guidelines to avoid defects. It focuses on problem avoidance and uniformity of operation throughout production.

After applying the QA functions, the final product or service is scrutinised by the QC team. QC is a continuous process that involves systematic auditing, testing, monitoring, and verification to detect any issues or lack of compliance. The second measure determines whether the result meets the required standards and achieves the highest quality.

The goal of QA is to focus on ensuring the manufacturing process meets all the requirements while it's in action. QC then identifies and prevents faults or defects and improves the end product after manufacture.

What are the key differences between quality assurance vs. quality control?

Implementing these quality techniques correctly greatly helps the execution of all your operations; however, you first need to know exactly how to differentiate between the two, and here's how:

Definition and Focus

• Quality Assurance: Quality assurance (QA) consists of systematically instituted plans, procedures and guidelines for ensuring product or service quality in conformity with required standards. QA is not involved with quality problems arising after manufacturing but mainly prevents defects, errors or deviations that could result in undesirable product quality while designing or producing the product throughout the life cycle.

• Quality Control:  In QC, final products or services are systematically examined, tested, and inspected to identify defects or deviations. QC seeks to locate and address quality mistakes within the final output. This response measure happens after the production process, where a team of experts checks the product and ensures whether it has met the set requirements.
  
  

Timing

• Quality Assurance: QA activity is undertaken at the various production stages, from the raw to end product deliveries. This is a preventive measure used before QC takes place.

• Quality Control: QC activities occur after production and the product/service is ready for testing. This is a post hoc or backward measure taken at the end of the production process.

Primary Goal

• Quality Assurance: QA seeks to create processes that continuously yield the desired quality in products and services. QA inspires continuous improvement as it targets excellence at each stage.

• Quality Control: First, QC ensures any quality problems or deviations are detected in the final output. It assures that the last product/service meets specified requirements and quality standards.

What about the world of quality assurance online?

As the importance of technology in quality improvement grows, we must ask ourselves how to ensure the best quality assurance in an environment where consumers are more demanding than ever.  Do you think that quality assurance is different in the virtual world? How do you measure quality regarding an online product or service?

With the increasing reliance on technology and the growing demand for seamless user experiences, organisations worldwide are turning to quality assurance online to deliver products and services that stand out.

What to make of all this? 

The most important battle is not quality assurance but quality control. It is a battle of quality over no quality. Look around and examine your competitors today, and you’ll find that quality management is the only thing that would make you land on top of the competition. That’s because quality sells, so get yours in check today.