Quality vs Quality Control

John Spacey, updated on July 23, 2023

Quality is the merit of something. This is the collection of attributes that make an experience, product or service valuable.

Quality control is the practice of making sure that an experience, product or service conforms to requirements and specifications.

Quality vs Quality Control

Quality is a subjective term. A high quality meal to one person may be a mediocre meal to the next. As such, quality is a product of design, engineering and professional insight. Activities such as designing fashion, engineering vehicles and preparing food are acts of defining quality.

Quality control is the detection and prevention of defects in products, services and experiences. In this context, quality is often defined as "conformance to requirements." As such, quality control isn't concerned quality in the eyes of customers. As long as things match requirements, they pass.

Quality vs Quality Control
	Quality	Quality Control
Definition	The merit of something.	The practice of making sure things conform to specifications.
Associated With	Design Engineering Professional Creativity	Testing Control Models & Standards