The Lumafield Cost of Quality Report
Quality costs every manufacturer money. Most don’t know how much.
210
quality decision-makers surveyed across the US and Canada.
58%
think at least a quarter of their organization’s Cost of Quality (COQ) is not measured.
42%
spend over 5% of their revenue on COQ-related activities.
62%
say tariffs and other trade barriers have made it harder to ensure quality.
77%
still use manual visual inspection in their quality processes.
80%
are already using AI-based tools to support product quality or inspection.
Quality costs manufacturers billions of dollars every year, and most believe they aren't capturing the full picture. More than 40% of the decision-makers we surveyed estimate that quality-related costs exceed 5% of their revenue, and the majority think even that figure understates the truth.
To understand how manufacturers are actually measuring and managing their Cost of Quality today, Lumafield commissioned an independent survey of 210 quality decision-makers across aerospace and defense, automotive, consumer electronics, consumer packaged goods, and medical devices in the US and Canada. This novel dataset provides a cross-industry benchmark of COQ practices, priorities, and gaps from the professionals managing them today.
The results reveal a consistent gap between what manufacturers track and what quality actually costs them, how supplier risk, inspection labor, and emerging technology are reshaping priorities across industries, and where the greatest opportunities for improvement remain.
What we found:
Measurement gaps
Most manufacturers track quality costs in some form, but only 35% use a comprehensive model and 58% believe at least 25% of their true COQ goes unaccounted for. Optimization opportunities are being left on the table.
Tariffs and supplier risk
Supplier-related quality issues ranked as the top priority across every industry we surveyed. Tariffs are making it worse: 54% of respondents say their suppliers have downgraded quality to offset tariff costs, and 27% report suppliers misrepresenting country of origin.
Tech adoption trends
AI and automated inspection are already delivering results, but adoption is uneven. The organizations capturing the most value are the ones that have built the data infrastructure to make the technology useful.
Download the full Lumafield Cost of Quality Report to discover:
- A cross-industry benchmark of how North American manufacturers across industries are measuring and managing their COQ today.
- How supplier risk, tariffs, and trade disruptions are affecting manufacturers.
- Detailed industry-level insights for aerospace and defense, automotive, consumer electronics, consumer packaged goods, and medical devices.
- How AI and automated inspection are changing what manufacturers can see and act on.
Learn how your organization compares to other North American manufacturers on Cost of Quality, measurement, and quality priorities by taking the quiz yourself.
