The key responsibility of the quality assurance organization is to assess and eliminate the potential sources of error which are an ever-present threat to quality and reliability. A guiding principle in this process is that human error is a constant, and that controlling it requires a systematic approach. It is essential to control work operations and manufacturing processes as well as inspections and tests. Work operations include design, materials procurement, vendor liaison, configuration control and packaging. This is the distinction between quality assurance and quality control. Q.C. is a check of the product. Q.A. is a check of the entire system that produces quality, from design to fabrication to shipping and installation. Q.C. is measurement quantification. Q.A. is conceptual, organizational. But the planners who saw the need for formalized Q.A. systems had more on their minds than the complexity of modern weapons systems. They were worried about human nature too.
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