Cost of Poor Quality (COPQ)

Reverent Returns For Our Fallen Soldiers
(USA Today)…Madeleine Tavares, July 11, 2008 Pg.9

… Our tour of the facility included a stop in the morgue area. A stack of body armor vests and helmets caught my eye. Rodriguez told us that they belonged to military personnel killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. She said they perform autopsies on all those killed after they arrive at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware. Her team also examines the body armor and suggests improvements. 

Rodriguez wanted me to know how respectfully those returning home were treated, and that each body was accompanied throughout the process by a servicemember. She wanted me to know about “the big old sergeant” who carefully presses the white T-shirts worn under the uniform jacket and how he meticulously tailors each jacket to fit the remains. “He wants them to look as good as they possibly can when they are returned home to their families,” she said.

Cost of Poor Quality includes the costs to prevent, find (appraise) and resolve failure. War is a failure cost, e.g., not being able to apply the other elements of power (diplomatic/political, economic, informational) to resolve the conflict.  Examining the body armor (see above) to identify improvements represents a cost of prevention.

However, the most important costs are unknown and unknowable — how do you put a price on all the effects associated with losing a loved one?