# The hidden cost of poor quality (and how to recover it). In industry, **5 to 15% of revenue** is lost to poor quality every year: scrap, rework, deviations, recalls, wasted time. Most of that cost appears nowhere in your dashboards — because it is born at the workstation, in the gap between what is written and what is actually executed. ![Illustration of an industrial plant with hidden costs symbolized by abstract shapes.](/assets/img/ressources-cout-non-qualite/hero-cout-cache-non-qualite.webp) 5 to 15% of revenue is lost to the cost of poor quality in industrial organizations — one of the largest untapped margin reserves. Source: Sinfony sector estimate, consistent with work on the cost of quality (COQ). For a company with **€50M** in revenue, that's **€2.5M to €7.5M** a year. Recovering even half of this cost directly transforms the income statement — with no new industrial investment, simply by making execution reliable. Poor quality doesn't come from a lack of procedures. It comes from execution variability. You have the quality system, the SOPs, the KPIs. But on the floor, up to **50% variability** exists between operators, and fewer than **30%** of processes are actually run consistently. The reason is simple: **80% of critical know-how stays informal**, in the heads of a few key people. A completed training is not a mastered skill — and every execution gap ends up as scrap, rework or a deviation. < 30% ### of processes are consistent Most processes are not run the same way from one operator, team or site to the next. up to 50% ### operator variability The performance gap between two operators on the same critical gesture is the leading source of invisible poor quality. 80% ### informal know-how The knowledge that drives quality is neither documented nor transmissible: it leaves with people and degrades with every handover. ## The cost items of poor quality, visible and hidden. The visible cost (scrap, inspection) is only the tip of the iceberg. The hidden items — often the heaviest — stay off the financial radar. | Cost item | Visibility | Common root cause | | --- | --- | --- | | Scrap & rejects | Visible | Poorly mastered critical gesture, parameters misapplied. | | Rework & reprocessing | Semi-visible | Execution variability between operators and teams. | | Deviations & CAPA | Semi-visible | Procedure not understood or not followed at the workstation. | | Held batches / release delays | Hidden | Incomplete documentation, faulty traceability. | | Reonboarding time & repeated training | Hidden | Know-how not captured, dependency on experts. | | Recalls, complaints, penalties | Hidden / deferred | Non-conformity that slips past final control. | | Knowledge lost when an expert leaves | Hidden | Informal critical knowledge, never documented. | How to read this: the more "hidden" an item is, the less it is managed — and the more lastingly it weighs on margin. ## Know-how is weakening, the cost is climbing. Three underlying trends explain why poor quality is structurally rising in regulated industries. 2.7 years median tenure with the same employer for 25–34-year-olds — know-how leaves before it has been transmitted. Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics 39% of skills will be transformed or obsolete by 2030 — mastery of gestures has to renew continuously. Source: World Economic Forum, Future of Jobs Report 2025 100% of employees must be trained for their activities — every gap becomes a deviation, and therefore a cost. Source: 21 CFR 211.25 (eCFR) ## The proof, in numbers. By capturing know-how and making execution reliable, our clients regain control of their cost of poor quality. −95% training-related errors −50% SOPs to maintain −50% deviation handling time On the consulting side, the impact shows up directly in industrial KPIs: **deviations −15 to −30%**, **rejects −5 to −15%**, **cycle time −15 to −30%**, **OEE +2 to +5 pts**. That many margin points recovered from poor quality. ## Three levers to take back control. The cost of poor quality is tackled at the source: the real execution at the workstation. [Deviations ### Simplify deviation management Detect, handle and learn from deviations to turn risk into an asset: **−50% handling time**. Learn more →](/en/consulting/deviation-management/) [Consulting ### Assess the reserve A 3–6-day preliminary study quantifies your cost of poor quality and identifies 80% of the levers, from €5k. See the consulting approach →](/en/consulting/) [SMEs / mid-market ### Turnkey solution No dedicated training department? Assessment, catalog and tools to make execution reliable quickly. See the SME / mid-market path →](/en/smes-mid-market/) ## What finance leaders ask us. What exactly is the "cost of poor quality"? + It's the whole set of costs generated by quality failures: scrap, rework, deviations and CAPA, held batches, recalls, complaints, but also hidden costs like repeated training and lost know-how. In industry, this total commonly represents 5 to 15% of revenue. Why doesn't this cost show up in our dashboards? + Because most of it is diffuse and hidden: wasted time, untracked rework, dependency on experts, knowledge that leaves with departures. Only the visible part (scrap, inspection) is measured. A field assessment lets you reconstruct the full cost and tie it back to its root causes. What return can we expect from reducing poor quality? + The impact shows up directly in industrial KPIs: deviations −15 to −30%, rejects −5 to −15%, cycle time −15 to −30%, OEE +2 to +5 pts. Because poor quality is born in execution, making the gesture reliable at the workstation recovers margin points with no new industrial investment. How long does it take to quantify our cost of poor quality? + A 3–6-day assessment is enough to identify 80% of your levers and quantify the reserve, from €5k. We observe real execution at the workstation, quantify the gaps and build a prioritized, costed plan. ## Recover the margin points hidden in your poor quality. A 3–6-day assessment quantifies the reserve and identifies 80% of your levers. From €5k.