Quality Control and Quality Assurance are terms used interchangeably in many instances. There are several distinctions although both concepts are facets of Quality Management. Quality Assurance is process oriented and deals with preventing defects, while quality control is product oriented and deals with identifying defects. Both concepts come in very handy in a lot of projects and processes including – web design, development of software and mobile applications including digital marketing.
Quality Control is the technique and activity used to fulfill the quality requirements for a product. Quality control involves verifying that specific deliverables are of acceptable quality and that they are complete and correct – to ensure products meet standard requirements. Some examples of quality control activities include inspection, deliverable peer reviews and the product testing process.
Quality assurance is “the activities within the quality management system that provides the assurance or confidence that a product or service will fulfill the expected quality requirements”. The confidence we refer to in this definition can be internal – management and external – customers and other stakeholders. Some examples of quality assurance activities include process checklists, project audits, methodology and standards development.
The aim of Quality Control is to spot defects in products after they are developed and before they are released or sold. The aim of Quality Assurance is to test and improve processes to prevent defects when products are being developed.
For instance in building a website, quality assurance ensures that the requirements of the website are clearly stated and agreed upon before the website is built. Quality control on the other hand comes into play after the website has been designed to ensure that all the pre-agreed requirements were met. At Midland, we adopt comprehensive checklists that list out all the requirements our clients want before we commence any project – this ensures we do not compromise on quality.
A designated team is usually responsible for Quality Control and their job is to test products for defects. Quality Assurance is typically the responsibility of everyone on the team involved in product development.
For example if your organization wants to build a mobile application or software, the quality control team will comprise of members of your team – the project manager, representatives from the user department and your IT team. While the quality assurance team will include not only members of your team but a team of designers, developers and QA Specialists from Midland Digital Solutions (we build amazing software and applications)
The focus of Quality Control is to identify and correct any defects in the final product. Therefore we can say that Quality Control is a reactive process. Quality Assurance focuses on preventing defects with an emphasis on the process involved in making the product. We can say that Quality Assurance is a proactive process.
For instance if you commission Midland Digital Solutions to build a website for your business, our quality control team will check the website after being built to ensure that all specifications and requirements were met. While during the process of building the website, quality assurance ensures that our developers follow all due process to prevent errors and rework.
Quality Control is conducted by identifying& removing potential sources of quality problems by using effective tools & equipment to ensure that the requirements of customer’s are not compromised. Quality Assurance on the other hand involves the establishment of a good quality management system and ensuring that it is adequate. Quality Assurance also involves conducting regular conformance audits of the operations of the entire system.
We employ both concepts regardless of the project we are handling for our clients – from web design, digital marketing, software and app development. Our team of experts do due diligence (quality assurance) pre-commencement and upon project completion (quality control).
To summarize the two concepts, it is important to note that Quality Control deals with the activities or techniques used to achieve and maintain the quality of products, processes and services offered to customers. While Quality Assurance deals with the avoidance of quality-related problems through planned and systematic activities including documentation.
Clearly both concepts go hand in hand. Whether your business is product or service oriented, Quality Assurance and Quality Control must be taken very seriously to ensure that you provide high quality services and products to your customers every time. In this age were a lot of businesses are willing to compromise on the quality of their products and service, yours can stand out.
Are you looking for team of technology experts with a keen desire for high quality execution to manage any of your digital/technology based projects? Contact us TODAY at info@midlanddigitalsolutions.com or visit www.midlanddigitalsolutions.com to learn more.
