ABSTRACT
There is a widely held view that cost information is easy to obtain if a company wishes to do so. We do not subscribe to this view. For example, Eldridge and Dale,4 reporting on a quality costing exercise carried out in an organization employing around 300 personnel across two sites and manufacturing industrial valves, state:
Companies which collect quality costs have developed their systems as one aspect of gathering quality-related information in attempting to monitor quality perfor mance. Another factor has been the economic and competitive pressure which has caused companies to look in more detail at appraisal activities and the costs of fail ure, with a view to making improvements and reducing costs. Such companies have based their systems and methods on what they are doing in terms of the tech nology, product type, service offering, processes and dealings with suppliers and customers, rather than on any published list of cost elements, or categorization into the classical activities of prevention, appraisal and failure.
