The cost of quality

The “Cost of Quality.” It’s a phrase that’s used frequently– and misused as often.

As ASQ (American Society for Quality) explains on their Web site, “ ‘the ‘cost of quality’ isn’t the price of creating a quality product or service, it’s the cost of NOT creating a quality product or service.”

In a typical company or corporate setting, when work has to be redone, the “cost of quality” increases. The stakes are higher when thinking about the “cost of quality” in relationship to your information destruction provider. It’s not “re-doing” the shredding that we’re talking about in this instance, it’s the shredding that never happened in the first place.

The “cost of quality” in this example is when one piece of paper ends up in a dumpster, or taken by employees that were never back ground checked, and your company gets a fine like this one, “Rite Aid agrees to pay $1 million to Settle HIPAA Privacy Case.”  In this case, the fine ended up being HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability Accountability Act) related, and costing Rite Aid $1 million dollars.

Saving a few dollars each month by going with a less expensive information destruction provider that isn’t as experienced, doesn’t use industry leading best practices, and doesn’t aid in proper employee training can lead to more than just an increase in “cost of quality,” it can be the difference that leads to you staying in business.

Price is an important factor for determining who you will trust with your company’s information, but “cost of quality” can be the intangible factor that keeps your company out of unflattering headlines.