Triggering Root Cause Analysis for Hardware Returns

[RamboDanbo]

Hi,

I wondered whether anyone has considered a calculation or logic to trigger root cause analysis for returned equipment. The returns may be early life failures, damaged by 3rd parties, etc.

I deal with a number returned equipment which then needs to be sent back to its manufacturing source but was after logic for initiating a detailed investigation e.g based on cost, criticality, number of occurrences within a week/month of a certain failure condion.

I hope this is clear, if not I can clarify further. Any help would be appreciated.

[ssz102]

i think if the equipment doesn't valuable or the cost of analyzed or repare and freight more than itself cost, not necessary for find out the root cause

[QCAce]

Depends on whether it is one of your top returns, and your resources available. Continual improvement means we never stop trying to improve. The returns that find themselves on the top of your Pareto of returns.......those would be the ones I would say you need to work on.

[Steve Prevette]

I would make sure the trend the rate of returns using SPC. A few thoughts I ran into from the recent ASQ World Conference on Quality and Improvement:

Be sure to be able to analyze by date of manufacturing (to track problems with the manufacturing) and by date of failure. The speaker used the example of cell phones damaged by water in the summer, since more people are outside and doing water activities.

When doing the root cause analysis, be sure to equally analyze some "good" parts as well as "bad". This comes from the Shainin philosophy. Yes, a failed part may have a certain characteristic found by a root cause analysis, but does a good part also have that characteristic, probably implying that is not the source of failure.