A First Course in Quality Engineering, 2nd Edition

26 A First Course in Quality Engineering

rst priority� External failures not only bring losses immediately in terms

of customer complaints and customer returns, they also produce long-term

losses due to loss of reputation leading to a loss in future sales� According

to a rule of thumb that quality professionals use, if a defective unit caught

within the plant costs $1 to repair, it will cost about $10 to repair it if it

reaches the customer� Thus, stopping those defective units from leaving the

door may save considerable external failure costs and therefore should be

the rst priority� Thus, a quick, short-term solution in this case would be to

increase the nal inspection to prevent the defective product from leaving

the door� This wi ...