Uses of Quality Cost Information
A quality cost report has several uses. First, quality cost information helps managers see
the financial significance of defects. Managers usually are not aware of the magnitude of
their quality costs because these costs cut across departmental lines and are not normally
tracked and accumulated by the cost system. Thus, when first presented with a quality cost
report, managers often are surprised by the amount of cost attributable to poor quality.
Second, quality cost information helps managers identify the relative importance of
the quality problems faced by their companies. For example, the quality cost report may
show that scrap is a major quality problem or that the company is incurring huge warranty
costs. With this information, managers have a better idea of where to focus their efforts.
Third, quality cost information helps managers see whether their quality costs are
poorly distributed. In general, quality costs should be distributed more toward prevention
and appraisal activities and less toward failures.
Counterbalancing these uses, three limitations of quality cost information should
be recognized. First, simply measuring and reporting quality costs does not solve quality
problems. Problems can be solved only by taking action. Second, results usually lag
behind quality improvement programs. Initially, total quality cost may even increase as
quality control systems are designed and installed. Decreases in quality costs may not
begin to occur until the quality program has been in effect for some time. And third, the
most important quality cost, lost sales arising from customer ill will, is usually omitted
from the quality cost report because it is difficult to estimate.
Typically, during the initial years of a quality improvement program, the benefits
of compiling a quality cost report outweigh the costs and limitations of the reports. As
managers gain experience in balancing prevention and appraisal activities, the need for
quality cost reports often diminishes.