Quality Assurance Vs Quality Control

Introduction

Quality is an important factor when it comes to any product or service. With the high market
competition, quality has become the market differentiator for almost all products and services.
Therefore, all manufacturers and service providers out there constantly look for enhancing their
product or the service quality.
In order to maintain or enhance the quality of the offerings, manufacturers use two techniques,
quality control and quality assurance. These two practices make sure that the end product or the
service meets the quality requirements and standards defined for the product or the service.
There are many methods followed by organizations to achieve and maintain required level of
quality. Some organizations believe in the concepts of Total Quality Management (TQM) and
some others believe in internal and external standards.
The standards usually define the processes and procedures for organizational activities and
assist to maintain the quality in every aspect of organizational functioning.
When it comes to standards for quality, there are many. ISO (International Standards
Organization) is one of the prominent bodies for defining quality standards for different
industries.
Therefore, many organizations try to adhere to the quality requirements of ISO. In addition to
that, there are many other standards that are specific to various industries.
As an example, SEI-CMMi is one such standard followed in the field of software development.
Since standards have become a symbol for products and service quality, the customers are now
keen on buying their product or the service from a certified manufacturer or a service provider.
Therefore, complying with standards such as ISO has become a necessity when it comes to
attracting the customers.

Quality Control

Many people get confused between quality control (QC) and quality assurance (QA). Let's take
a look at quality control function in high-level.
As we have already discussed, organizations can define their own internal quality standards,
processes and procedures; the organization will develop these over time and then relevant
stakeholders will be required to adhere by them.
The process of making sure that the stakeholders are adhered to the defined standards and
procedures is called quality control. In quality control, a verification process takes place.
Certain activities and products are verified against a defined set of rules or standards.
Every organization that practices QC needs to have a Quality Manual. The quality manual
outlines the quality focus and the objectives in the organization.
The quality manual gives the quality guidance to different departments and functions.
Therefore, everyone in the organization needs to be aware of his or her responsibilities
mentioned in the quality manual.

Quality Assurance

Quality Assurance is a broad practice used for assuring the quality of products or services.
There are many differences between quality control and quality assurance.
In quality assurance, a constant effort is made to enhance the quality practices in the
organization.
Therefore, continuous improvements are expected in quality functions in the company. For this,
there is a dedicated quality assurance team commissioned.
Sometimes, in larger organizations, a 'Process' team is also allocated for enhancing the
processes and procedures in addition to the quality assurance team.
Quality assurance team of the organization has many responsibilities. First and foremost
responsibility is to define a process for achieving and improving quality.
Some organizations come up with their own process and others adopt a standard processes such
as ISO or CMMi. Processes such as CMMi allow the organizations to define their own internal
processes and adhere by them.
Quality assurance function of an organization uses a number of tools for enhancing the quality
practices. These tools vary from simple techniques to sophisticated software systems.
The quality assurance professionals also should go through formal industrial trainings and get
them certified. This is especially applicable for quality assurance functions in software
development houses.
Since quality is a relative term, there is plenty of opportunity to enhance the quality of products
and services.
The quality assurance teams of organizations constantly work to enhance the existing quality of
products and services by optimizing the existing production processes and introducing new
processes.

Conclusion

When it comes to our focus, we understand that quality control is a product-oriented process.
When it comes to quality assurance, it is a process-oriented practice.
When quality control makes sure the end product meets the quality requirements, quality
assurance makes sure that the process of manufacturing the product does adhere to standards.
Therefore, quality assurance can be identified as a proactive process, while quality control can
be noted as a reactive process.
Difference between Quality Assurance (QA) and Quality
Control (QC)
Quality Assurance (QA) Quality Control (QC)

 It is a procedure that focuses on  It is a procedure that focuses on

providing assurance that quality fulfilling the quality requested.
requested will be achieved

 QA aims to prevent the defect  QC aims to identify and fix defects

 It is a method to manage the quality-  It is a method to verify the quality-

Verification Validation

 It does not involve executing the  It always involves executing a program

program

 It's a Preventive technique  It's a Corrective technique

 It's a Proactive measure  It's a Reactive measure

 It is the procedure to create the  It is the procedure to verify that

deliverables deliverables

 QA involves in full software  QC involves in full software testing life

development life cycle cycle

 In order to meet the customer  QC confirms that the standards are

requirements, QA defines standards followed while working on the product
and methodologies

 It is performed before Quality Control  It is performed only after QA activity is

done
 It is a Low-Level Activity, it can  It is a High-Level Activity, it can
identify an error and mistakes which identify an error that QA cannot
QC cannot

 Its main motive is to prevent defects in  Its main motive is to identify defects or
the system. It is a less time-consuming bugs in the system. It is a more time-
activity consuming activity

 QA ensures that everything is  QC ensures that whatever we have

executed in the right way, and that is done is as per the requirement, and that
why it falls under verification activity is why it falls under validation activity

 It requires the involvement of the  It requires the involvement of the

whole team Testing team

 The statistical technique applied on  The statistical technique applied to QC

QA is known as SPC or Statistical is known as SQC or Statistical Quality
Process Control (SPC) Control