Quality assurance

What quality assurance is

• Quality assurance (QA) builds the check into every stage of the process, so a fault is caught by the person who created it, at the point it happens.
• It is a prevention system. The aim is that a defect never reaches the next stage, let alone the customer.
• QA works through agreed standards and documented procedures: each stage has a defined standard, the worker at that stage checks against it, and the check is recorded.
• Certification schemes such as ISO 9001 are quality assurance made formal and auditable, which is why exporters often hold one — it is evidence a buyer can inspect.

Advantages

• Faults are caught early, when only part of the value has been added, so the cost of each defect is far lower.
• Waste falls, which lowers the cost of production per unit.
• The cause is visible. Because the check happens at the stage that created the fault, the business can see which machine, material or method is responsible and fix it.
• Responsibility sits with the worker, which tends to raise care and job satisfaction — people take more pride in output they are trusted to judge.
• It is auditable. Documented procedures and records are exactly what an overseas buyer, a regulator or a certifying body wants to see, so QA can open markets that QC cannot.
• Consistency across sites. A documented standard travels — useful when a business manufactures in more than one country.

Disadvantages

• Expensive to introduce. Every worker has to be trained, standards have to be written, and records have to be designed and kept.
• Slower, at least at first. Checking at every stage adds time to the process, so output per hour falls while people learn.
• Paperwork. Documentation and audit take time that is not spent producing.
• It depends on people following it. A documented procedure that workers skip under pressure gives false confidence — the records say the check happened.
• Resistance. Staff who have never been responsible for quality may see the change as extra work, or as a criticism of how they have always worked. This is a change management problem as much as a quality one.

Quality control and quality assurance compared

	Quality control	Quality assurance
When the check happens	After production	During production, at every stage
Who checks	Inspectors	The worker doing the job
Aim	Detect defects	Prevent defects
Cost to set up	Low	High
Cost of each defect	High — a finished unit	Low — partly finished work
Does the cause get fixed?	Not necessarily	Usually, because it is visible
Effect on staff	Can demotivate	Usually raises responsibility
Evidence for buyers	Little	Documented and auditable