How much does Quality cost?

 

          Need a better understanding of the cost of quality within your organization? The cost of quality includes conformance costs mixed with nonconformance costs. Calculating cost of quality is better done after products/services have been created, cleaned, and completed. You’ll always account for the costs required to meet customer expectations, but you must also account for every cost associated with fixing failures within products and other areas that customers won’t settle for. For example, often times developers and customers are not on the same page when it comes to developing a product or service for use. This is caused by customers not being an active member on development teams, constantly giving feedback for reassurance. The results sometimes are products which meet requirements, but aren’t necessarily what the customer ask for; products are not compatible with users' familiarity.

 

The 5 Cost Categories for Quality

           Five major categories exists in quality costs. First, prevention costs which cover planning projects to ensure they’re error-free or meet acceptable error ranges. Although, this category covers conformance, error ranges are more connected with nonconformance costs since organizations will determine how much will be spent fixing errors within projects. Next, appraisal costs cover process evaluations for more error-free projects. The next two categories involve internal and external failure costs. Internal costs correct identified defects before the customer receives the product. External costs are the opposite, correcting errors overlooked before delivering the product. Finally, measurement and test equipment costs involve all costs necessary for carrying out prevention and appraisal steps.