Quality Control (QC) and Quality Assurance (QA) are both crucial components of a Quality Management System (QMS). Although they are both quality-related concepts, they differ in their fundamentals.
Quality Control is a product-oriented approach that focuses on detecting and correcting defects in the finished part. It comprises techniques such as inspection and testing to ensure that the product meets the required quality. Quality control methods apply at multiple stages of a manufacturing process, with the common objective of ensuring minimal deviation from established systems.
Quality Assurance is a process-oriented proactive approach that focuses on preventing any defects in a product before they occur. It aims to design production processes at the organizational level to minimize the chances of defects and deviations occurring.
It can be said that quality assurance is a bigger picture concept than quality control in manufacturing. Together, QA and QC collectively work to guarantee optimal quality management of manufacturing processes.
