Br. Feiring et al., Modelling the cost of poor quality in a five-state part manufacturing operation: a case study, J OPER RES, 49(12), 1998, pp. 1249-1253
The quality history of individual parts from a critical operation can be mo
deled by a five-state Markov chain involving factory rework operation, cust
omer inspection and field test, parts scrapped, parts defective but used-as
-is by concession or re-graded for alternative applications, and defect-fre
e parts satisfying customer requirements. We estimate total failure cost by
a five-state Markov chain model and present a case study to demonstrate re
lationship of the total failure cost to appraisal and prevention costs.