Quality control (QC) is one of the most essential components of modern business operations, ensuring that products and services consistently meet customer expectations, regulatory requirements, and industry standards. Before diving deeper into QC, it is important to understand how it differs from quality assurance (QA). While QA focuses on preventing defects by improving processes, QC focuses on detecting and correcting defects in finished products or services. In simple terms, QA is proactive and process-oriented, while QC is reactive and product-oriented.