Abstract

In their new book, Principles of Quality Costs, fifth edition (Quality Press, 2026), the authors return to the fundamentals by framing cost of quality through Joseph Juran’s trilogy of planning, control, and improvement. This excerpt focuses on the control component and the importance of sustaining process efficiencies and cost savings. Without a plan to monitor, measure and maintain control of operations and processes, even the most successful corrective actions risk being lost to drift or regression. A cost of quality system provides the data needed to establish a baseline, detect drift early, justify corrective action with sound economics and keep teams aligned on what matters long after the “project” ends.