What is the definition of Quality Assurance (QA)?

The maintenance of a desired level of quality in a product, especially by means of attention to every stage of the process.  A procedure or set of procedures intended to ensure that a product (before work is complete, as opposed to afterwards) meets specified requirements.

QA is a way of preventing mistakes or defects in manufactured products and avoiding problems when delivering solutions or services to customers. QA is applied to physical products in pre-production to verify what will be made meets specifications and requirements, and during manufacturing production runs by validating lot samples meet specified quality controls.

Quality Assurance refers to administrative and procedural activities implemented in a quality system so that requirements and goals for a product or activity will be fulfilled.   It is the systematic measurement, comparison with a standard, monitoring of processes and an associated feedback loop that confers error prevention. 

Two principles included in Quality Assurance are: “Fit for purpose", the product should be suitable for the intended purpose; and "Right first time", mistakes should be eliminated. QA includes management of the quality of raw materials, assemblies, products and components, services related to production, and management, production and inspection processes.

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