Textbook Problem

The controller of Emery, Inc. has computed quality costs as a percentage of sales for the past 5 years (20X1 was the first year the company implemented a quality improvement program). This information is as follows:

Required:

1. 1. Prepare a trend graph for total quality costs. Comment on what the graph has to say about the success of the quality improvement program.
2. 2. Prepare a graph that shows the trend for each quality cost category. What does the graph have to say about the success of the quality improvement program? Does this graph supply more insight than the total cost trend graph does?
3. 3. Prepare a graph that compares the trend in relative control costs versus relative failure costs. Comment on the significance of this trend.