The official definition of the word “control” is: to exercise authoritative or dominating influence over; or to adjust to a requirement. This definition fits perfectly with Quality’s May coverage as we talk about document control and discuss internal audits that help companies prepare for official audits under ISO standards.
Control should be familiar to all engineers from its roots in the scientific method. Scientific control deals with experimentation and is designed to minimize the effects of variables on, or independently of, the independent variable. This experimentation helps improve the reliability of the results of any process, often by comparing the controlled and the uncontrolled.