Why Quality is Important and How It Applies in Diverse Business and Social Environments, Volume II

CHAPTER 14

Quality Costs and the Bottom Line

Cost of Quality

The Cost of Quality (COQ) was a key management issue when I started my quality career, but one that could be very difficult for senior management to handle, as I well remember.

There is a whole chapter “Quality Costs” (5) in the classic Quality Control Handbook by J. M. Juran.¹ The chapter has graphs showing the costs under three main headings, with a further sub-division of one. Gray² groups them under the same basic headings with clearer terms (Table 14.1).

Table 14.1 Quality cost categories

³

The ASQ resources page on COQ⁴ provides examples under each heading (Figure 14.1): -

Figure ...