One thing that all manufacturing industries have is quality. Whether its a quality system, quality standards, quality department, whether the company is small or large or in industry requires precision or not, there’s always some type of quality involved. Now here’s where people get things confused. Often you hear people talk about ‘QA’ when they really mean ‘QC’ and visa versa. Although both are an integral part of a quality system, there is a distinct difference between quality control (QC) and quality assurance (QA). It is also important to note that a successful quality system utilizes both quality assurance and quality control. So let’s get into the differences:

Quality Assurance (Verification of Quality): Procedures that focus on being proactive and preventing defects before the product is fabricated. Quality assurance is a managerial and preventative tool. Examples of procedures: quality planning, process checklists, quality audits to name a few.

Quality Control (Validation of Quality): Procedures that focus on identifying defects after the product has been fabricated. Quality control is a corrective tool. Examples of procedures: inspection (in-process, final, first article, source), and testing.

The most important thing to distinguish is that one happens before the other and there are two different mindsets. For instance quality assurance happens before fabrication and being proactive in preventing defects during the manufacturing process. Whereas quality control emphasizes verifying parts after they have been fabricated and has the mindset of detecting problems and defects in products. Essentially, QA is process oriented and QC is product oriented and should be identified as two separate entities.

One of the biggest reasons these two get mixed up is because the terms “quality” and “assurance” seem like they assure quality and therefore control quality, which is incorrect. Quality assurance does not assure quality, but rather it assures there’s a procedure or process in place that will result in quality. In other words, it’s more of a process management rather than managing quality of a product. Quality assurance has to do with the inputs (processes) that make a product.

Similarly for quality control, people assume that it controls the quality of a product, which is incorrect as well. Quality control rather measures quality by verifying what was implemented meets the requirements. Quality control has to do with the outputs (results) of a product.

Here at Vista Industrial Products, Inc., we are ISO 9001 certified meaning that our quality management system is very comprehensive. We have various processes and procedures in place to maintain our quality as well as a quality control department that verifies all products before they are shipped to the customer. In the metal fabrication industry, we are known for our quality fabricated parts in the defense, medical, high technology, and commercial industries that all require high precision and quality parts. Our sheet metal fabrication, machining, and welding fabrication services all showcase exceptional quality. If you are looking for a high quality metal fabricator, please submit a request for quote and contact us today!