Quality Assurance

Quality assurance is a practice designed to avoid mistakes and defects in manufacturing products or services. The ISO 9000 family of quality management systems defines quality assurance as part of quality management focused on providing confidence quality requirements are fulfilled.

Quality assurance is the proactive process used to manage quality in producing a product or service. In contrast, quality control is the process used to verify the quality of the product or service.

Quality assurance officers oversee production and quality procedures, keep records of the work, and prepare reports on adherence and deviations from quality standards for management.

Quality assurance reviews assess the effectiveness of quality programs and related procedures in achieving conformance to standards.

There are seven steps to creating a quality assurance program.

1. Define quality objectives
2. Establish roles and responsibilities
3. Establish policies and procedures
4. Implement the policies and procedures
5. Collect and measure results
6. Make adjustments as necessary
7. Iterate

Here are five tips to improving quality assurance:

1. Define quality from the customer perspective
2. Develop an organizational culture that prioritizes quality
3. Begin testing early in processes
4. Conduct team training frequently
5. Solicit customer feedback

Quality assurance standards define requirements, specifications, guidelines, and characteristics for products and services that, when used consistently, ensure the products and services are always of high quality.