In 2020, a manufacturing company instituted a total quality management (TQM) program producing the comparative report shown below: On the basis of this report, which one of the following statements is...

In 2020, a manufacturing company instituted a total quality management (TQM) program producing the comparative report shown below:

On the basis of this report, which one of the following statements is most likely correct? a. An increase in conformance costs resulted in a higher-quality product and, therefore, a decrease in nonconformance costs. b. An increase in inspection costs was solely responsible for the decrease in quality costs. c. Quality costs such as scrap and rework decreased by 48%. d. Quality costs such as returns and repairs under warranty decreased by 40%. e. Nonconformance costs increased by 50% and conformance costs decreased by approximately 47%.