Below are various definitions of the concepts of: quality, quality control, and quality assurance.
What is quality
Quality was defined by Joseph M. Juran as "fitness for use." The suitability for use (quality) implies all those characteristics of a product that the user recognizes that they benefit him.
The following figure summarizes the parameters that determine suitability for use :
Quality parameters. Source: Guajardo
W. Edwards Deming defined quality as a predictable degree of uniformity and reliability at low cost, suited to market needs.
According to Armand V. Feigenbaum, quality is: An effective system for integrating the quality improvement efforts of the different groups in an organization, to provide products and services at levels that allow customer satisfaction.
Genichi Taguchi defines it as the cost that a product imposes on society from the moment of its conception.
In the ISO 8402 standard, quality is defined as the set of properties and characteristics of a product or service that gives it its ability to satisfy expressed or implicit needs.
To delve into the concept of quality we propose the following video-lesson (3 videos, 38 minutes), given by Professor Víctor Yepes, in which the fundamental concepts of quality are described, from the point of view of the client, technical, statistical and economic.
What is quality control
Quality control is the regulatory process through which we can measure actual quality, compare it to standards, and act on the difference.
Quality control consists of the tools, know-how or techniques through which some or all of the quality functions are developed.
Quality control refers to the set of techniques and procedures used by management to guide, supervise and control all the aforementioned stages until obtaining a product of the desired quality. Quality control is not just paperwork, nor a series of statistical formulas and acceptance and control tables, nor the department responsible for quality control. For a well-informed management, quality control represents an investment that, like any other, must produce adequate returns to justify its existence. All members of a company are responsible for quality control. Whatever work a person or machine does,Whoever performs the work or operates the machine is the one who can most effectively control the quality or report the impossibility of achieving the desired quality so that corrective measures can be taken.
The ISO 8402 standard defines quality control as the set of techniques and activities of an operational nature, used to verify the requirements related to the quality of the product or service.
In the following video you will find a very complete course on total quality control, which explains why its implementation is necessary, the basic concepts that support it and the basic actions to implement it are presented. Although the video quality is not the best, its content is quite valuable.
What is quality assurance
Quality assurance or quality assurance is, according to ISO 8402, the set of planned and systematic actions necessary to provide adequate confidence that a product or service will satisfy the given quality requirements.
Quality assurance was born as a natural evolution of quality control, which was limited and ineffective in preventing the appearance of defects. For this, it was necessary to create quality systems that incorporated prevention as a way of life and that, in any case, served to anticipate errors before they occurred. A quality system focuses on ensuring that what an organization offers meets the specifications previously established by the company and the client, ensuring continuous quality over time.
Quality assurance is a system that places emphasis on products, from their design to the moment they are shipped to the customer, and concentrates its efforts on defining processes and activities that allow products to be obtained according to specifications. Its objectives are: (1) That defective products or services cannot reach the customer; and (2) Prevent errors from occurring repeatedly.
References:
- Guajardo Garza, Edmundo. Total Quality Management. Editorial Pax México, 2008. p.57 Udaondo Durán, Miguel. Quality management. Ediciones Díaz de Santos, 1992, p. 35 Ibid Ibid, p. 19 Buades, Gabriel. Quality in Software Engineering, UIB, 2002, p.10. Juran, JM, Gryna (Jr.), Frank, and RS Bingham. Quality control manual. Reverte, 1983, p.14 Ibid Hansen, Bertrand L. and Ghare, Prabhakar M., Quality control: theory and applications. Ediciones Díaz de Santos, 1989, p. 2 Ibid Buades Ibidem EAFIT University, Quality assurance. Bulletin 42 Renau Piqueras, Juan José. Quality assurance, processes and their improvement. University of Valencia, p. 4
