Quality management

Quality management can be considered to have three main components: quality control, quality assurance and quality improvement. Quality management is focused not only on product quality. During the industrial revolution, the importance of craftsmen was diminished as mass production and repetitive work practices were instituted.

Quality management therefore uses quality assurance and control of processes as well as products to achieve more consistent quality. Quality management is a recent phenomenon. Advanced civilizations that supported the arts and crafts allowed clients to choose goods meeting higher quality standards than normal goods. 

In societies where art and craft were valued, one of the responsibilities of a master craftsman was to lead their studio, train and supervise the work of their craftsmen and apprentices. The master craftsman set standards, reviewed the work of others and ordered rework and revision as necessary.

One of the limitations of the craft approach was that relatively few goods could be produced, on the other hand an advantage was that each item produced could be individually shaped to suit the client. This craft based approach to quality and the practices used were major inputs was created as a management science.