The factors that affect a company's S$/$Q rating by the International Footwear Federation include:

current and cumulative spending for TQM$/$Six Sigma quality control programs and expenditures for ne styling$/$features per model.

the number of new high$-$tech performance features annually built into the latest branded models$/$style percentage of newly$-$produced pairs of branded footwear not passing inspection due to defects; and percentage use of new and refurbished footwear$-$making equipment.

the size of incentive bonuses paid to workers for defect$-$free workmanship; expenditures for best practi training; and whether production improvement options B and D have been installed.

expenditures to properly maintain the performance of footwear$-$making equipment, the percentage use new and refurbished footwear$-$making equipment, and the installation of production improvement opti and D$.$

company expenditures to regularly test the durability of its branded and private$-$label footwear models; much is spent to inspect newly$-$produced pairs and avoid shipping defective shoes; and the size of the footwear quality incentives paid to production workers.