Quality management (QM) basically refers to all organised measures that serve to improve products, processes or services of any kind. This includes the definition of quality requirements and test procedures. Quality control is the ongoing control of product quality during production as part of quality assurance. According to the internationally recognized quality management standard ISO 9000, the aim is not to optimize the quality of a product, but to maintain a predetermined and clearly defined quality level.
This may therefore also mean ensuring a low level of quality. The product may be either physical, a service provided or a process used. Quality control measures have also long been common in viticulture, which requires appropriate standards. In the case of Rioja in Spain, a document dating back to 1650 already refers to quality control.