Abstract

The third edition of Principles of Quality Costs has been prepared by the ASQ Quality Costs Committee. It supports the use of quality cost techniques as a tool for quality improvement and quality program activities, thus emphasizing that cost and quality are complementary concepts. This edition broadens the view of quality costing by covering items such as software quality costs, customer satisfaction, the service industry, activity based costing, small business, team-based problem solving, and the ISO 9000 and QS-9000 standards. The publication also acknowledges lessons learned over the years: that quality cost studies can encourage management support and leadership for quality improvement; that reducing the high costs of poor quality requires resources, the identification of improvement projects, and the setting of responsibilities; that quality cost concepts should be expanded beyond the cost of nonconformities; and that quality cost concepts should be applied to the service sector.