Singapore Quality Institute (SQI), previously known as Singapore Quality Reliability Association (SQRA) was formed in 1971 under the encouragement of the then Minister for Finance, Mr Hon Sui Sen, who got together a group of people led by Dr Lee Kum Tatt, past chairman of SISIR, to set up SQRA.

After making substantial progress over 17 years, in January 1988, an Ad-Hoc Committee was formed to look into the possibilities of constitutional change to turn the Association into a professional Institute. The members during the Extraordinary General Meeting on 24 February 1989 approved the proposed constitutional change. On 5 July 1989, the Registry of Society approved the change of name from SQRA to SQI as well as the changes in the Constitution to reflect the new professional image.

SQI operates as a non-profit professional Institute, which promotes and advances excellence in the field of quality in Singapore, and actively champion quality initiatives in the region and worldwide through networking and collaboration with other international quality organizations. The Institute is a World Partner of the American Society for Quality (ASQ) and a Board Member of the Asian Network for Quality (ANQ).