The document discusses the concept of Cost of Quality (COQ) and compares it to Six Sigma. COQ quantifies quality problems in monetary terms and identifies costs from prevention, appraisal, and failures. COQ assessment provides opportunities for companies to set an improvement tone, support quality processes, and identify and address root causes of poor quality. COQ analysis indicates where failures most contribute to costs and the processes that cause those failures can then be improved to reduce costs more than increasing prevention costs. Six Sigma aims to minimize defects while COQ expresses waste in financial terms.