s part of its TQM programme, Marshall Tufflex, a plastics company which takes cable management systems and replacement windows, undertook two cost of quality analyses.

The first was time management for senior managers. It showed how much time (and therefore money) was lost in meetings an interruptions. Now the company has strategies for reducing, the number of meetings and managing its executives' diaries better.

Marshall Tufflex also examined the cost of service calls in its window installation business. It found that most of the problems were caused in manufacturing processes and by poor communication when the order was taken. The company has now taken steps to improve both these areas.

Marshall Tufflex found it difficult to put a figure on the savings, though they were known to be large. The exercises were designed to help the company get used to the idea of cost of Quality. But they have also made the company more effective.