ABSTRACT
This chapter presents the basic ideas and the historical development of quality assurance, without getting into mathematical-statistical issues at this point. It explains what is meant by quality, quality control and statistical quality control and how statistical quality control can be systematically divided into different areas. The chapter outlines the historical development of quality assurance (QA), beginning with the introduction of the control chart method in the 1920’s to the computer aided quality control methods, which can be seen as a module in computer integrated manufacturing. It considers the history of QA from the beginnings to the development of a solid scientific foundation. The chapter describes the trends of development in QA and illustrates them with examples of practical applications. Especially in large enterprises an element in the strategy of “controlled production” through active quality assurance is a transfer of quality assurance measures from one’s own premises to the supplier.
