Quality control and quality assurance

• Quality Management 


  When an organisation puts systems in place to ensure that all activities and tasks undertaken achieve a desired level of excellence, this is known as quality management.
• Quality control

  • Quality control means that the finished products are checked by inspectors to see if they meet the set standard. 
  • Products are inspected at the start and the end of the production process.
  • Any product not meeting the standards of quality set by the business will be sent for rework or discarded.
• Benefits of Quality Control

  • Reduces the chance of poor quality products reaching the consumer.
  • It makes employees more conscious of the importance of quality.
  • It can help to make production more efficient.
  • It can raise morale of workers knowing that they are producing higher quality products.
  • Products are more uniform.
• Costs of Quality Methods

  • Faults are usually only found at the end of the production process
  • Higher wastage costs
  • Reworking faulty products ties up time and money
• Quality Assurance 


  Quality assurance means that quality checks are built into the production process. For example, all staff check all items at all stages of the production process for faults.
• Benefits of Quality Assurance

  • Everyone on the production line takes responsibility for delivering quality
  • Reduces production defects and faults to a very low level or to zero
  • Mistakes are identified quickly and addressed, which reduces waste
  • Reduced waste saves the organisation money.
• Costs of Quality Assurance

  • Quality assurance can be costly due to the regular checks being made throughout the production process.
  • Checking regularly can also slow down production, resulting in lower productivity.
  • It is a medium to long-term strategy and cannot be implemented quickly.