Comparison chart

Quality Quality Control

Assurance

Focus on: QA aims to prevent defects QC aims to identify defects in

with a focus on the process the finished product. Quality
used to make the product. It control, therefore, is a
is a proactive quality process. reactive process.

Goal: The goal of QA is to improve The goal of QC is to identify

development and test defects after a product is
processes so that defects do developed and before it's
not arise when the product is released.
being developed.

Statistical Statistical Tools & Techniques When statistical tools &

Techniques: can be applied in both QA &
QC. When they are applied to
processes (process inputs &
operational parameters), they
are called Statistical Process
Control (SPC); & it becomes
the part of QA.
techniques are applied to
finished products (process
outputs), they are called as
Statistical Quality Control
(SQC) & comes under QC.

Differences between Quality Assurance and

Quality Control
EDIT Definitions of QA and QC
←
← Quality Assurance (QA) refers to the process used to create the
deliverables, and can be performed by a manager, client, or even a third-party
reviewer. Examples of quality assurance include process checklists, project
audits and methodology and standards development.
← Quality Control (QC) refers to quality related activities associated with
the creation of project deliverables. Quality control is used to verify that
deliverables are of acceptable quality and that they are complete and correct.
Examples of quality control activities include inspection, deliverable peer
reviews and the testing process.
← Quality control is about adherence to requirements. Quality assurance is
generic and does not concern the specific requirements of the product being
developed.
← Quality assurance activities are determined before production work begins
and these activities are performed while the product is being developed. In
contrast, Quality control activities are performed after the product is developed.

Re: Difference
Between Quality
Assurance and
Quality Control?
by Stephen Cuthbert -
Tuesday, August 31,
2010, 07:30 AM
As we all know the major difference between the two is that Quality
Assurance is an overall development and management process whilst Quality
Control is product oriented and comes as part of the overall Quality
Assurance package on offer to the customer. The processes should be fully
documented and auditable at any stage by both the business and customer
and this helps to have overall control of each phase of the project such as
manufacturing, purchasing, packaging and installation.

This in turn helps to identify weaknesses and strengths in the process and
product alike.

The two need to work hand in hand in as much as If Quality Control is there
and Quality Assurance is not up to the required standards then, there would
be lots of rejections by the customer adding up to rejection of product,
material and manpower wastage and non-compliance.

If Quality Assurance is there and Quality Control is missing, then any non-
conformity due to process fault, breakdown or any other abnormality could
go to market and could result in product recalls which will not only annoy
the consumer but result in financial loss to both customer and the company
and can of course lead to loss of business.

Quality Assurance: QA is part of the quality management system focussed on

providing confidence that quality requirements will be fulfilled and is aimed
at the predicting and preventing the error before it's occurrence and covers
the overall package. It’s a set of activities designed to ensure that the
development and/or maintenance process will meet its objectives and it
ensures that the right process or step is followed by the right people. This is in turn
builds quality into the process, product and people involved.

It can be carried out at the point of production, completion or inspection by

client and It’s used to identify and control the defects in products or process
both present and in the future. Quality assurance defines the quality policy
and in turn, how to follow the policies in better way to avoid any
issues/defects thus saving time effort and money in the production of product
but also providing the customer with exactly what they require.

It would also be obvious to state that Quality Assurance has some basis in
customer requirements and will ensure that control is maintained at any
stage of the build and development of the product and product quality is
maintained. This could be overseen by the Quality Assurance Engineering
department.

A Quality Assurance Engineer takes the preventive actions to eliminate the

defects in the product and may well be involved in developing and provision
of packaging & shipping requirement s to ensure the finished products
arrive in good order.

Quality Control: The dictionary would define this as a process for meeting the
established goals by evaluating and comparing actual performance and
planned performance, and taking action on the difference. It’s aimed at a
process, looking at it’s inspection criteria, rejection criteria & acceptance
criteria and taking the required steps to improve the passing quantity.

Most importantly when a company has to inspect incoming components,

parts or sub assemblies from outside vendors which are to be used in the
production process. Quality controls and strictly documented specifications
will allow you to spot where problems may arise, and a testing programme
would have to be carried out to ensure the quality issues are eliminated.
Using appropriate sampling plan as and when required available tools or as
specified in the quality manual standards. Principles of Quality control will
also be employed where in-process inspection is carried out on semi-finished
products or subassemblies during manufacturing to check conformity to
requirements for further assembly and processing.

Quality Assurance will come into play on end products and has to be assured
before the end product leaves the site en route to the costumer. Conformity
to customer specifications will be strongly measured and documented,
parametric and life tests will be carried out on selected samples, if necessary
the end product will be sent for re-work or scrap yard. Quality control and
Quality Assurance are both necessary in a manufacturing firm to ensure
strict conformity to requirements

It’s a series of observation techniques and activities used by the business to

fulfil quality requirements and to discover and segregate non conforming
material.

As we have already identified, Quality Control is part of the Quality

management system, focussed on fulfilling quality requirements and is only a
part of the overall Quality assurance package. It’s about checking at the end
of a development process (e.g. - a design activity) that we have built quality
into the products and we have achieved this through our methods.

It also refers to quality related activities associated with the creation of

project deliverables. Quality control is used to verify that deliverables are of
acceptable quality and that they are complete and correct.

We can view it as a correction process mainly detecting the error after its
occurrence and therefore, If a product is made with non conformity, quality
control would have the ability to reject it.

A Quality Control Engineer would monitor and find defects in a product and
ensure that all requirements of the quality plan are met by the product
during manufacturing and he or she would be focussed on making sure
product meets the requirements of quality plan set out by Quality Assurance
and the Quality Management System.
Control of the production process is therefore much more effective and could
be seen to be more important than the control of the final product as you are
better and more quickly able to identify where quality or product issues are
and can be addressed during every task or operation.