Supplier Quality, Development & Audits worked example

Supplier Qualification Cost at 54% first-pass yield: a worked example in supplier quality, development & audits

Suppose first-pass yield falls to 54%. This page works the full calculation at that level so you can see exactly which result moves and by how much. Estimates the cost to qualify a new supplier or part through validation runs and PPAP documentation.

The inputs for this scenario

  • Qualification test runs: 6 runs (held at the documented default)
  • Cost per qualification run: 2,200 $/run (held at the documented default)
  • First-pass yield: 54 % (the input this scenario stresses; the baseline uses 75)
  • Documentation and PPAP adder: 4,000 $ (held at the documented default)

Working through the calculation

  • The calculation starts from the formula this tool documents: Total qualification cost = test runs x cost per run x first-pass yield% + documentation adder.
  • Total supplier qualification cost works out to 11,128 $ at these inputs, and this is the headline figure for the scenario.
  • Supplier qualification cost per unit works out to 1,855 $ / piece at these inputs.
  • Variable supplier qualification cost works out to 7,128 $ at these inputs.
  • Fixed supplier qualification cost adder works out to 4,000 $ at these inputs.

How this compares with the baseline

  • Against the tool's baseline example, where first-pass yield sits at 75% and the headline result is 13,900 $, this scenario comes in 19.94% below the baseline at 11,128 $.
  • It computes the total cost to qualify a supplier from the number of test runs, cost per run, first-pass yield achieved, and a fixed PPAP/documentation adder. When the numbers land here, the stressed input is the lever to work; the walkthrough above shows exactly how much each output recovers as it climbs back toward the baseline.

Results at a glance

  • Total supplier qualification cost: 11,128 $ (headline result)
  • Supplier qualification cost per unit: 1,855 $ / piece
  • Variable supplier qualification cost: 7,128 $
  • Fixed supplier qualification cost adder: 4,000 $

Run it with your numbers

  • To rerun this with your own numbers, open the live Supplier Qualification Cost calculator, set first-pass yield to your actual value, and adjust the remaining inputs to match your operation.

Last reviewed 2026-05-12.