What distinguishes Quality Assurance from Quality Control?

Quality Assurance (QA) is centered around the processes and methodologies that lead to the final product, ensuring that quality standards are integrated throughout the development lifecycle. This proactive approach involves establishing quality management systems, creating best practices, and identifying potential defects early in the development process. By focusing on how the product is built, QA aims to prevent issues from occurring, ensuring that the processes themselves meet quality standards.

Quality Control (QC), on the other hand, is concerned with the final product itself and involves assessing and inspecting the finished outputs to ensure they meet the required specifications. QC is a reactive measure that identifies defects in the completed product, aiming to catch any issues before the product reaches the customer.

The distinction between these two concepts is crucial for maintaining high-quality standards in products and services. Recognizing that QA is about developing and refining processes, while QC is about evaluating the end result, allows organizations to implement a comprehensive quality management strategy.