THE COST QUALITY

The cost of quality is very important to a Total Quality

Control program. It is a factor for determining product cost as well as a measure to
determinethe effectiveness of a Quality Control organization. We will not dwell on
theanalysis of quality costs, but we should be aware of some of the contributing
factors. Three general classifications of quality costs are: 1. Failure
Costs 2. Prevention Costs 3. Appraisal Costs The failure
costs are associated with scrap, rework, and customercomplaints and rejections.
Included in appraisal costs are the salaries andcompensations to Quality Control
and inspection personnel who are directlyresponsible for the inspection function,
as well as cost of inspection andtesting equipment. Prevention costs should
include the salaries paid to personnel engaged inquality planning, quality training
and developing quality inspection equipment. In a well planned organization,
the amount of money spent for prevention ofdefects and appraisal of the product
should be approximately equal to the costof scrap, rework, and rejections. This
serves as a "rule of thumb" to determineif we are spending money properly to
appraise the product to prevent scrap andrework. Usually money spent on
prevention and appraisal will not only reducefailure costs, but it will reduce the
total costs as well. Dr. W. EdwardsDemming suggests that the elimination of scrap
and rework is one of the mostprofitable areas in which to increase productivity. It
costs the same toproduce a piece of scrap as it does to produce a good part. Money
and timespent in rework adds to the cost of the product without increasing
production. BENEFITS OF QUALITY CONTROL OBJECTIVES OF QUALITY CONTROL
The most important objective of Quality Control is to assure good qualitymaterial
to the customer. Another objective is to obtain the desired quality ata minimum
cost. A third objective is to provide factual information relative toquality upon
which the proper persons may base decisions. We may call this"quality feedback
information". A good feedback system should include scrap andrework reports,
machine and process studies, process capabilities, and a systemsand product audit
report. PRODUCT IMPROVEMENT The direct responsibility of producing good
quality remains with themanufacturing departments. If quality is not good, Quality
Control shouldcollect data, analyze it, and present the facts to manufacturing and
engineeringfor corrective action. Many times a good study can detect the causes
thatcontribute to a faulty process. Since this requires teamwork on the part of
Quality Control and Manufacturing, it is vital that both areas UNDERSTAND THE
TECHNIQUES of statistical control. A good corrective action program willimprove
product quality and ultimately increase sales and profits. QUALITY -MINDEDNESS
The proper use of control charts provide manufacturing personnel withinformation
for product improvement. The machine operator takes pride in doinga good job. There
is a significant psychological effect in the use of controlcharts that show what is
happening to the process. It is very important that the charts are beneficial
and provide usefulinformation. It is also necessary that the operators and foremen
understand thecharts, or they may feel that they are an insult to their
workmanship. PREVENTATIVE INSPECTION One of the many benefits of Quality
Control is that it places emphasis onprevention, rather than "after the fact"
inspection. We can not inspect goodquality into a a completed product; we can only
sort out the defects and replacethem with good product. This can be a very costly
operation. It is better tocontrol the product as it is being produced and eliminate
defects before theyoccur than to try to sort them out afterwards. SUMMARY
Many benefits of a Quality Control program are intangible and cannot bemeasured in
dollars and cents. Application of statistical quality controltechniques may be
expected to: A. Improve product Quality B. Reduce scrap and rework C.
Improve gauging equipment D. Identify process capabilities E. Identify
product conformance to specifications F. Provide better records G. Reduce
quality costs H. Help provide better methods I. Increase production J.
Provide information for tooling and process changes K. Reduce labor of 100%
inspection L. Provide better control of purchased material M. Serve as a
clearing house between manufacturer and customer N. Serve as a source to feed
information back to design engineering