What is quality engineering? Definition and examples

Quality Engineering focuses on making sure that goods and services are designed, developed, and made to meet or exceed consumers’ expectations and requirements. Quality engineering also emphasizes predictive and preventative measures to preempt potential issues in product development.

It includes all the activities related to the analysis of a good’s design and development. Quality engineers also make sure that the manufacturer makes the goods according to specifications.

A quality engineer not only focuses on the product’s quality and the production process but also the reduction of waste.

Quality engineers design and monitor the quality of processes. They work in a variety of industries and play a vital role in correcting or fixing defects.

Wikipedia has the following definition of quality engineering:

“The discipline of engineering concerned with the principles and practice of product and service quality assurance and control.”

“In the software development, it is the management, development, operation, and maintenance of IT systems and enterprise architectures with a high-quality standard.”

Definition of Engineering

Engineering is the application of scientific, mathematical, and practical knowledge to design, build, and maintain structures, machines, devices, systems, and processes.

Quality engineering vs. quality assurance

Quality assurance is the overall process of making sure that a manufacturer makes things properly. The manufacturer needs a quality system to make that happen.

Quality engineering, on the other hand, defines that system. It also maintains and improves it.

Quality assurance focuses on maintaining quality in the production process, while quality engineers ‘engineer’ it. In other words, quality engineers devise the system.

Some quality engineers not only devise the system but also monitor it. In other words, they do both quality engineering and quality assurance work. In the software industry, for example, people commonly call them quality assurance engineers.

Quality Engineering
Quality engineering is a common feature of IT services. People commonly refer to quality engineers in this field as ‘quality assurance engineers.’

Quality engineering and the ‘voice of the customer’

In today’s competitive marketplace, companies are forever developing new and improved products. Sometimes, they succeed in gaining market share, and sometimes they fail. In this context, the word ‘marketplace’ means the same as ‘market’ in the abstract sense of the word.

With the huge range of products on the market today, manufacturers must provide top-quality products that consumers want. They must also provide them at competitive prices.

Companies can make sure they take into account the ‘voice of the customer’ through the effective use of quality engineering methods and tools.

Quality engineering integrates customer feedback into product lifecycle management, ensuring continuous improvement and customer satisfaction.

Regarding the voice of the people, Quality-One International says:

“Through the effective use of Quality Engineering methods and tools during the product conception, development and implementation processes, organizations can ensure that the Voice of the Customer (VOC) is heard and integrated into the product design, that quality is designed and built into the product, and waste is identified and eliminated in the manufacturing processes.”

“Properly implemented Quality Engineering tools and techniques can have a huge impact on product cost and quality, and on the organization’s bottom line.”

Quality engineering – key terms

Here are some compound phrases related to quality engineering:

  • Quality Engineering Standards

Guidelines that define quality practices.
Example: “The ISO 9001 is among the most recognized quality engineering standards globally.”

  • Quality Engineering Tools

Techniques and instruments used for quality improvement.
Example: “Fishbone diagrams are essential quality engineering tools for root cause analysis.”

  • Quality Engineering Management

The oversight of quality systems and processes.
Example: “She was promoted to lead the quality engineering management team.”

  • Quality Engineering Practices

Established methods for ensuring quality.
Example: “Adopting robust quality engineering practices has minimized defects in our products.”

  • Quality Engineering Metrics

Measurements used to assess product quality.
Example: “We use a range of quality engineering metrics to evaluate the production line’s performance.”

Video – What is Quality Engineering?

This video presentation, from our YouTube partner channel – Marketing Business Network, explains what ‘Quality Engineering’ means using simple and easy-to-understand language and examples.