Question

After focusing for so long on total quality management, mobley industries found that while their product defects decreased by 18%, their product costs increased by 42%. what can they do to bring down their costs?

Answer 1

They should identify which of their TQM measures contributed the most to product defect decreases (for example, using a Pareto chart). They can do a cost-benefit analysis to see whether there are any expensive methods that are only giving minimal improvement overall, and they may be willing to sacrifice those TQM methods to reduce their cost and allow a slight increase in defect rate.

Answer 2

To help bring down their cost, it is important for Mobley Industries to find what total quality management (TQM) activity brought down their product defects. If they can find what change brought down their defects, they may find the source of which increase their product costs. However, in often times decreasing defects if they have to do with adding extra labor, steps, or parts will increase the cost without allowing for change. If they can pinpoint where the increase is coming from though, they may be able to find a better more cost effective solution.