Quality Gate
A formal checkpoint in the product development lifecycle where stakeholders review evidence against predefined criteria and decide whether the product may advance to the next phase.
Why it matters
Quality gates prevent costly problems from propagating downstream. A defect caught at a design gate costs a fraction of what it costs to fix during manufacturing or after field deployment.
External References
This term appears in
Cite this definition
Finocchiaro, Michael. “Quality Gate.” DemystifyingPLM PLM Glossary, 2026, https://www.demystifyingplm.com/glossary/quality-gate