The cost of poor quality: an opportunity of enormous proportions

In all organizations, the state of finance is routinely reported in sublime detail for study and action. And yet, anywhere from 20 to 50 percent of the monies involved in that report are never identified as unnecessary and nonproductive. These monies, referred to as the Cost of Waste (COW), are the result of actions that have been taken or must be taken because quality is not served--inappropriate actions are being performed or appropriate actions are not being performed right the first time, every time. Proactively determining, reporting, and monitoring the COW brings a degree of objectivity to the quality management process and provides a powerful internal driver for performance improvement. A 10 step Cost of Waste system is proposed.