I can't figure out how to respond to this corrective action request so I'll look to the experts here for some guidance.:confused:

I have received this request from one of our major OEM customers for a $2.00 imported item that I have absolutely no control over. When we shipped it, it was fine, but it arrived at their location not functioning. I have requested a corrective action from the vendor, but since this item is made in China, I will probably never get a response (been waiting 6 months now).

If it was working when it left your plant and not working when it got to the customer, what happened? You have asked for corrective action from your supplier, but have you determined that they are at fault? How does this part fit into your product? stand alone, component?

Obviously this is a low dollar claim, but...how often could it happen, what is the larger risk involved (might be a $2 part, but will it destroy a million dollar assembly?) Is this customer asking for a formal CA to be submitted, or just filing a claim to get their money back?

Too many questions left unanswered to give you a really good answer, but my suggestion is to figure out exactly what the customer wants from you, and then, perform a root cause analysis if one is needed. (I wouldn't bother for $2 unless it happens repeatedly. If a one time deal, fugedaboudit)

Did you receive the part back? Were you able to determine the cause of the failure? This information is necessary for us to help.

If the cause was in the shipping then there's no point in bothering the vendor. If the cause was at the vendor's location, then the part wasn't "fine" when it shipped. Can you please give a few more details?

Did you receive the part back? Were you able to determine the cause of the failure? This information is necessary for us to help.

If the cause was in the shipping then there's no point in bothering the vendor. If the cause was at the vendor's location, then the part wasn't "fine" when it shipped. Can you please give a few more details?

The part is enroute to us and cause of failure will be nearly impossible to discover. This is an expendable item (think light bulb) that did not work when it arrived at the customer. If we ship thousands of these items a day, the chance of 100% inspection does not exist, but inspection based on our sampling plan is done religiously.

I'm thinking that my corrective action is to verify all on-hand inventory and move the sampling plan to the next level in hopes of catching any defects that may occur in future orders.

So this is one defective item out of thousands your customer receives daily. If this is a recurring problem that's costing them money (due to rework, customer failures, etc.), it's a whole different situation than a bored SQE looking for a supplier to beat on. Do you know your customer's motivation for asking for a formal CAR?

Do you know your customer's motivation for asking for a formal CAR?

Standard operating procedure I believe. We ordinarily don't have nonconformance issues with them so this isn't too common for me.

The part is enroute to us and cause of failure will be nearly impossible to discover. This is an expendable item (think light bulb) that did not work when it arrived at the customer. If we ship thousands of these items a day, the chance of 100% inspection does not exist, but inspection based on our sampling plan is done religiously.

I'm thinking that my corrective action is to verify all on-hand inventory and move the sampling plan to the next level in hopes of catching any defects that may occur in future orders.

You cannot inspect quality into an order... there needs to be some set acceptance level, you say they get thousands of these every day...how many get shipped and how many are defective in a day, a week, a month. i.e. what is the parts per million defect rate. I hate it when people demand a formal CA just because it is standard procedure. Why waste the time? write up your investigation that light bulbs fail because the filliments (sp?) break or are burnt through, then give them their $2, or send them a replacement.:2cents:

In my past life we had a bunch of these. The 2 pieces out of 25,000 are suspect, where's my CA.
What I use to do was to go with the most logical explaination (shipping in your case) and say, spend 5 - 10 minutes looking at how they are handled etc. Then write it up as I saw it.
"Reviewed the packaging process and due to the 1 time failure was not able to detect a leak point, will contact the carrier for further info"
Things like that usually closed the issue. Someone on their end probably want some paper on their desk so they look busy.
Another item for thought. If you have a newbie to the Root Cause thing, let them run with it for awhile. See what they come up with. You never know what you'll get from a fresh set of eyes.
:2cents: