While enormous dollars are spent reacting to problems, taking a top-down view of the production system can reveal sources of scrap, rework and other inefficiencies.

While enormous dollars are spent reacting to problems, Quality teams can excel to new heights by focusing on prevention: of product failures, of scrap, and of other inefficiencies.

Looking just at the auto industry, GM has recalled roughly 3 million vehicles this year in the U.S. alone. In 2009, GM recalled roughly 2.2 million vehicles.