The document discusses Taguchi's quality loss function, which models the relationship between product quality and economic losses. It defines quality as losses imparted to society from product use. These losses include operating costs, failure costs, maintenance costs, customer satisfaction, and poor design. Unlike traditional approaches, Taguchi's model considers that losses occur when a product deviates from its target value, even if still within specifications. The quality loss follows a U-shaped curve, with losses increasing as deviation from the target grows. The document provides a formula for calculating the constant k in Taguchi's quadratic quality loss function.