Table 2 Costs of poor quality.

From: Six Sigma can significantly reduce costs of poor quality of the surgical instruments sterilization process and improve surgeon and operating room personnel satisfaction

Costs of poor quality

Controllable poor-quality cost

Prevention cost

Quality planning (for test, inspections, audits, process control)

Education and training

Performing capability analyses

Conducting design reviews

Appraisal cost

Test and inspection

Supplier acceptance sampling

Auditing processes

Resultant poor-quality cost

Internal error cost

In-process scrap and rework

Troubleshooting and repairing

Design changes

Additional inventory required to support poor process yields and rejected lots

Reinspection and retest of reworked items

Downgrading

External error cost

Sales returns and allowances

Service level agreement penalties

Complaint handling

Field service labor and parts costs incurred due to warranty obligations

Back to article page