DEMYSTIFIED: What’s the difference between QA and QC?

Have you ever been confused about what the difference is between QA (Quality Assurance) and QC (Quality Control)?

Have you tried to look it up, and then got even more confused about the explanations?

Don’t worry, you’re not alone.

Let me help shed some light and demystify all that.

This is my share for #wisdomwendesdays

QA vs QC: The Short Answer

QC happens before the product leaves your scope/jurisdiction, or before it reaches your customer, to ensure that the goods or services are accurate and of high quality.

QA happens after the fact, which means your customer may already have received the goods or services by the time you check if the process followed to complete the task was done correctly.

QA vs QC: The Long Answer

If you look it up, most likely you’ll see explanations such as: “Quality Assurance is Process Oriented, and Quality Control is Product Oriented.”

The reason why these terms are defined that way is because they were originally implemented in the manufacturing industry, where you actually have physical and tangible products.

So when they say, “Quality Control is Product Oriented,” it means you are to inspect the actual physical product, and you can check that while the product is still in your hands.

In QC, the objective is defect detection, before it gets sent off for delivery to the customer.

Likewise, when they say that “Quality Assurance is Process Oriented,” it means that you are to inspect the process on how the product was manufactured, usually through audits, checklists, and tests.

In QA, the objective is defect prevention, to ensure any errors won’t happen again.

Where it’s confusing is typically in the service industry, where you cannot really “see” the process, and sometimes even the “product.”

That’s why visual management, dashboards, and process maps matter a lot in the service industry as these serve as visual representations of these “invisible” processes.

Which is better: QA or QC?

This really depends from process to process and across industries as well, ad whether or not your process is bound by regulatory bodies that govern how your business should be run.

But generally speaking, QC is typically a form of waste – rework. And implementing QC to fix issues in quality is usually just a band-aid solution.

QA, on the other hand, can be vastly reduced or even eliminated, if you get to perfect your process in such a way that you have eliminated everything that causes defects, such as through Poka-Yoke or mistake-proofing, or through automation.

That’s it! I hope you found value in what I’ve shared in today’s #wisdomwednesdays post.

If you want to learn more about how you can improve processes, transform your career to take it to the next level, then here’s how you can take action:

• Get Lean Six Sigma Certified. Go to https://robbieagustin.com/courses for more information
• If you haven’t yet, download a copy of my book for FREE (for a limited time only) – The Business Optimization Blueprint, and learn how you can improve your business process and take it to the next level.