Quality control is the process of ensuring that all types of inventory meet standards. As you can tell by the definition, quality control and inventory control overlap. Quality assurance requires that you “build in” quality; you cannot “inspect it in.” Businesses need to prevent quality problems, because errors can be very expensive.

Total quality management (TQM) is the process that involves everyone in an organization focusing on the customer to continually improve product value. TQM is much broader in scope than quality control because part of its core value is to make it the job of everyone in the organization to improve quality. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) certifies firms that meet set quality standards. Both manufacturing and service businesses can apply for ISO certification.

It is called a process control because it is concurrent; quality is measured and corrected during the transformation process.