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Field Failure Cost Calculator

Work out field failure cost instantly with clear inputs, formula shown and shareable results.

About Field Failure Cost Calculator

A field failure costs far more than the part: the service visit typically dominates, and customer goodwill or contractual downtime credits can exceed both. Totalling all three shows why detecting a defect in the factory is one to two orders of magnitude cheaper than detecting it in the field.

Formula

Field failure cost

Cost per failure = parts + service visit + goodwill; total = failures x cost per failure

Worked example

With the default values below, Field Failure Cost Calculator returns Total Field Failure Cost of $2,112,000.00. Change any input above and every figure here is recalculated in your browser.

Inputs used

Field Failuresminimum 0
320
Parts Cost Per Failureminimum 0
900
Service Visit Costminimum 0
2,200
Goodwill And Downtime Creditminimum 0 per failure
3,500 per failure

Results

Total Field Failure Cost
$2,112,000.00
Cost Per Failure
$6,600.00
Service Share Of Cost
33.33%
Goodwill And Credit Cost
$1,120,000.00

Step by step

  1. 1Values used
  2. 2Field failure cost
  3. 3Total Field Failure Cost= 2,112,000.00
  4. 4Cost Per Failure= 6,600.00
  5. 5Service Share Of Cost= 33.33
  6. 6Goodwill And Credit Cost= 1,120,000.00

Assumptions and limits

  • The result is derived only from the 4 inputs listed above. Anything not among them is not part of the calculation.
  • In particular, this calculator does not take inflation, tax or compounding frequency into account.
  • Figures are rounded for display to 2 decimal places, so totals built from several rounded parts can differ slightly from the unrounded arithmetic.

How these calculators are built and tested is described on the Methodology page. If a figure looks wrong, please report it.

Frequently Asked Questions

How does this compare with in-factory detection?

The rule of ten: a defect costs roughly ten times more at each stage it escapes — design, production, final test, customer. Field cost per defect is commonly 100-1000 times the factory scrap cost.

Should warranty reserve be based on this?

Yes, combined with an expected failure rate curve. Reserve = units under warranty x expected remaining failure probability x cost per failure.

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