Quality Escape Cost Calculator
Put a number on the defects that slip through to your customers, and see what catching them earlier is worth. Your numbers stay in your browser.
Annual escape cost
$0
How this is calculated
An escape is a defect that survives your internal checks and reaches the customer. Each one carries a direct cost to make right, and often a warranty or credit cost on top.
Cost per escape = direct cost + warranty / credit cost
Annual escape cost = escapes / yr × cost per escape
Projected savings = annual escape cost × reduction%
Why escapes cost so much
- The 1-10-100 rule. A defect caught at the source might cost 1 to fix. Caught in final inspection it costs about 10. Caught by the customer it costs roughly 100, once returns, rework, expediting, admin, and lost trust are added up. The later the catch, the steeper the bill.
- Set costs from your own data. Pull actual return, rework, and warranty figures rather than guessing. The default costs here are placeholders, not benchmarks.
- Reduction is your assumption. The slider is the improvement you expect from catching defects earlier, not a guarantee. Use a range you can defend.
- Intangibles are excluded. Lost customers, damaged reputation, and recall exposure are real but not counted here, so treat this as a conservative floor.
Escapes shrink when problems are visible in real time instead of at the end of the line. To size the earlier stages, estimate scrap and rework with the first time right calculator, or connect quality to throughput with the OEE calculator.
Make escapes visible before they ship
Harmony connects your machines, inspections, and paperwork into one real-time operational layer, no rip-and-replace, so a defect signal reaches the right person while the unit is still in the plant. Read the CLS case study.
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