Quality improvement or quality improvement is a process, of Anglo-Saxon philosophy, associated with a quality management system, and oriented to the continued search for the level of excellence on the basis of a contract between the candidate and a commercial certification body. The philosophy of this process is distinguished from and opposed to official quality standards, competitions, emulations, diplomas, and official labels unilaterally agreed upon by some public authority. The term quality improvement frequently designates attempts and actions carried out in view of obtaining or maintaining certification, for example, ISO 9001 certification.

The quality certifications obtained through this process, their corresponding symbol and name, are seen and felt as an interesting marketing element, and as a way to improve the profile of an institution or a product among the clientele and the population in general.

Quality improvement can be applied to any type of organization, public, private, parastatal, or intergovernmental, for-profit or non-profit, and with headquarters and activities anywhere in the world. Currently, this quality improvement process is mainly based on the ISO 9001 standard,[1]​ whose certification involves, among other things, the annual visit of an auditor.[2]​.

Improvement in quality implies the following functions within a company or institution:.

Regarding the software used, there is often talk of calimetry (in French: qualimétrie) usually applied by the quality, rationalization, and methods sectors of consulting companies in the field of digital processes. This new discipline, in a similar way to all management related to quality and satisfaction, aims to define and achieve a level of demand such that it allows maximizing the values ​​created by the software and perceived by users (customers, suppliers, internal staff...).

Paper is still the dominant mode of document dissemination. In 2003, 73% of companies (worldwide) that applied the quality improvement process almost exclusively used paper for the dissemination of documentation and marketing operations, and only 15% of these companies had definitively abandoned paper as a support,[3]​ and ICT is still relatively little applied to appreciate customer needs and satisfaction. On the other hand, just under 20% of quality procedures use a suitable process for quality management. These figures show that there is still a need to insist on these issues with companies.