Quality assurance (QA): Principles and process

Quality assurance (QA) is a proactive approach designed to ensure that products or services consistently meet predefined quality standards and customer expectations by integrating quality into the product from the outset. This process involves a variety of principles, such as being fit for purpose, right first time, customer focus, prevention over detection, cost-effectiveness, and employee involvement. QA is categorized into types like product, process, internal, and external quality assurance, each focusing on different aspects of ensuring quality. Methods such as failure testing, statistical process control, cause-and-effect diagrams, and inspection checklists are employed to identify and prevent defects. Distinct from quality control and testing, QA emphasizes process improvement and defect prevention throughout the development lifecycle. The QA process typically follows the PDCA cycle (Plan, Do, Check, Act) to continuously improve quality. Popular standards like TQM, ISO 9000, ISO/IEC 27001, Six Sigma, and CMMI guide QA practices, which are crucial for enhancing customer satisfaction, building brand reputation, reducing costs, improving operations, and ensuring regulatory compliance.