Cost of Quality
The cost of quality (COQ) consists of one or more of the following costs
- Prevention costs. Costs of prevention of poor quality in the products, product, or services.
- Appraisal costs. Costs of evaluating, measuring, auditing, and testing.
- Failure costs (internal/external). Costs of non-conformance of the products, deliverables, or services to the needs or expectations of the stakeholders.
The optimal COQ is one that reflects the appropriate balance for investing in the cost of prevention and appraisal to avoid failure costs.
