Quality & Metrology worked example

Cost of Quality with prevention cost of 12,500 $: a worked example

Push prevention cost up to 12,500 $ and the picture changes. This example computes every intermediate figure at that operating point. Use it to size the total cost of quality and to see where prevention spend could reduce failure cost.

The inputs for this scenario

  • Prevention cost: 12,500 $ (raised for this scenario; the documented default is 5,000)
  • Appraisal (inspection) cost: 8,000 $ (unchanged)
  • Internal failure cost: 12,000 $ (unchanged)
  • External failure cost: 15,000 $ (unchanged)

Working through the calculation

  • Applying the documented formula (Total cost of quality = prevention cost + appraisal cost + internal failure cost + external failure cost) to the inputs above produces each figure below.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 47,500 $ for total cost of quality, the number this scenario is built around.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 12,500 $ for element 1.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 8,000 $ for element 2.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 27,000 $ for element 3 + 4.

How this compares with the baseline

  • Against the tool's baseline example, where prevention cost sits at 5,000 $ and the headline result is 40,000 $, this scenario comes in 18.75% above the baseline at 47,500 $.
  • It sums the four PAF cost categories — prevention, appraisal, internal failure, and external failure — into a single total Cost of Quality figure. The value of this scenario is the size of the gap it exposes: that gap, priced out over a year, is the budget you can justify spending to close it.

Results at a glance

  • Total cost of quality: 47,500 $ (headline result)
  • Element 1: 12,500 $
  • Element 2: 8,000 $
  • Element 3 + 4: 27,000 $

Run it with your numbers

  • Every input above is editable in the live Cost of Quality calculator, which recalculates instantly and can be shared with the inputs intact.

Last reviewed 2026-05-12.