Quality Assurance Vs Quality Control (QA Vs QC) |

Quality Assurance (QA), and Quality Control (QC) are the processes most vital for a project’s success. However, experts frequently mix the two terms and get them confused.

I am writing this Quality Assurance Vs. Quality Control (QA Vs QC) blog post to clarify these concepts. After finishing it, you will better understand the procedures involved in quality management and quality assurance.

Every project has QC and QA functions. The QC section communicates and coordinates with the QA department and vice versa.

Because these processes are intertwined, many professionals, particularly those who work in organizations of small or medium size, may not grasp the distinctions between them.

During the ISO 9001 training course I took a few years ago; I had the opportunity to speak with many quality management professionals. These individuals were employed in various professions.

I asked one individual about the responsibilities and obligations of his position as a QA/QC engineer in his organization after he told me he held that position.

He replied that he goes around checking that the work is going as planned. He inspects deliverables with specifications and recommends corrective action if the deliverable has deviation, or the process is out of control.

After that, I inquired about the quality assurance responsibilities that were included in his work. He gave me the same response.

This indicated that he was ignorant of the quality assurance obligations he held.

Often QA or QC or QA/QC engineers are unaware of their job responsibilities, especially in small organizations, because the differences can be so murky.

Sometimes, they don’t know the meaning of QA or QC.

This problem is especially common in companies of a small or a medium size, which rarely have the financial means to employ quality assurance and quality control engineers.

When this occurs, the individual may hold the title of Quality Assurance (QA) while working in Quality Control (QC), and sometimes QC will work as QA. Their obligations and responsibilities may become even more muddled as a result.

This issue needs to be cleared up because it has an impact on the overall success of the project as well as the quality of the project. 

Quality Assurance Vs Quality Control (QA Vs QC)

The process of managing a product’s overall quality is called quality assurance. Quality control aims to ensure that the product meets its specifications. 

Before we discuss the differences between these concepts in detail, we must first understand the term “quality.”

The most important and accepted definition is from Mr. Philip B. Crosby, who says quality is “Conformance to requirements.”

According to ISO 8402:1996 – Quality Management and Quality Assurance Vocabulary standard, “Quality is the totality of features and characteristics of a product or service that bears on its ability to satisfy stated or implied needs.”

According to ISO 9000:2000 – Set of International Quality Standards and Guidelines for Quality Management Systems, “Quality is the degree to which a set of inherent (existing) characteristics fulfills requirements.”

Simply put, “quality” is about meeting the customer’s requirements to see if the deliverable is fit for use.

When a product satisfies or exceeds the expectations of the buyer, we consider that product to be of high quality. If it does not, then the quality of it is poor.

Please note that, regardless of the product’s grade, the quality should be high; you cannot compromise with quality for any reason.

Quality Assurance (QA)

Assurance is an act of providing confidence that the customer can believe in. 

Quality assurance (QA) ensures that the product will have a high level of quality by ensuring that the output of the process is flawless and meets all of the requirements. It is a method built on processes, and its goal is to eliminate faults in deliverables when the project is still in the planning stage to save costly reworks.

The quality assurance process is proactive; it emphasizes planning, documenting, and fulfilling requirements. This begins at the very beginning of the project and contributes to better communication of the product’s requirements.

You will then design quality management strategies to meet your stakeholders’ requirements and expectations once the requirements have been determined.

Tools Used in the Quality Assurance (QA) Process

The following tools are used in quality management:

• Quality audits
• Process analysis
• Quality management tools.

A team of external experts reviews the process and procedures in a quality audit. If there are any inconsistencies, they will make recommendations for how to fix them, and they may also provide input on how the process might be improved.

A quality audit is a useful tool for ensuring that a project adheres to industry standards, established policies, and protocols.

During the process analysis, you investigate whether there is room for improvement, determine the underlying source of any problems, and catalog any activities that do not provide value.

Quality management and control tools include various diagrammatic techniques, which help you find ideas, make decisions, and prioritize issues. Examples include an affinity diagram, a tree diagram, a network diagram, etc.

Quality Control (QC)

Quality control (QC) is a product-based approach that includes the activities and techniques for fulfilling quality requirements.

The term “quality control” (QC) refers to a method that is centered on a product and incorporates the processes and procedures necessary to meet quality requirements.

Quality control functions are initiated right at the commencement of the project. This is a reactive method that assists in detecting flaws in deliverables. The quality control process aims to ensure that the deliverables are free of flaws and meet all quality requirements.

The quality control process seeks to achieve the following goals: discovering flaws in the product, addressing those flaws, and validating the deliverable.

QA and QC depend on each other; the quality control process receives input from the quality assurance process and provides feedback to the quality assurance process so that the quality assurance personnel can validate the process.

For example, during the project execution, the team discovers a flaw. They will make the necessary changes to eliminate the flaw; afterward, the feedback will be sent to the quality assurance team.

The reason for the error will be investigated by this team, and appropriate measures will be taken to prevent it from happening again.

After the process has been revised, the employees responsible for quality control will use the updated method to put an end to the fault.

The quality assurance process takes inputs from the quality control process and vice versa.

Tools Used in the Quality Control (QC) Process

The quality control process has three main techniques:

• Inspection
• Statistical sampling
• The seven basic tools of quality

During an inspection, the deliverable is evaluated against the quality requirements and subjected to a physical examination to detect any flaws.

In statistical sampling, a predetermined number of products from a batch are chosen randomly for inspection to look for flaws or lack of conformity.

The seven basic quality tools are: scatter diagrams, control charts, histograms, checklists, Pareto diagrams, cause-and-effect analyses, and flowcharts. These tools help find defects and the causes of defects.

The Differences Between Quality Assurance and Quality Control

Although the QA and QC processes are different, they complement each other. The output of one process is an input of the other.

Examples of QA/QC

Now, we will see a real-world example of QA and QC.

QA Example

You have decided to implement the SAP software system in your company to boost productivity and efficiency. Because the personnel in your business are unfamiliar with this program, your company intends to educate them on how to use the software through training.

Therefore, you decide to hire a consultant to build in-house training material and a system to train the existing and new employees. You are responsible for gathering the training requirements, gathering the paperwork, developing the training material and assessment, and getting the training started.

This was a part of the QA process.

QC Example

Now that the training is finished, you want to check that it was successful.

You are responsible for collecting the training data, including attendance information, evaluations of participants’ performances during the program, and a final evaluation.

You will look at this data to determine whether or not the training program was successful and whether or not employees could comprehend the new software system being introduced in the firm.

You can receive feedback from the attendees of the training, which you can then pass to the quality assurance department so that it can take action and incorporate the acceptable recommendations into the training process. This will help enhance the training process.

The Benefits of Quality Assurance and Quality Control (QA and QC) Processes

• High-quality output and eliminate waste.
• Increased efficiency of operations.
• Greater customer satisfaction helps your brand and grows your business.
• Lessen rework, and after-sale support are required, which saves a lot of money.
• Encourages a high level of confidence and motivates the team.

Quality assurance and quality control are closely related; both aim to deliver a defect-free product. Both processes are an integral part of a quality management plan, and failure to apply either will result in a low-quality product.

Summary

The quality assurance and quality control (QA & QC) procedures verify that a product is free of flaws and meets all specified conditions. Both have the same goal but go about accomplishing it in different ways. Quality control focuses on the end product, while quality assurance is on the processes involved in producing it. The process of creating a product with no flaws is something that is designed by quality assurance. On the other hand, quality control ensures that a faulty product never makes it to the consumer market.

These procedures are very important to the overall success of the project you are working on. They can only be accomplished successfully if the team and the organization are aware of the significance of what they are trying to do.

Another process, “validate scope,” might be combined with quality assurance and quality control. I have written a blog post to explain this as well.

Please visit: Quality Control and Validate Scope. 

Here is where this post on QA Vs QC ends.

Are you involved in quality assurance or quality control  (QA/QC) activities? Please share your experiences in the comment section.