PRODUCT FAILURE: CAUSES AND EFFECTS
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study
Marketing management should be concerned with the responsibility of pursuing customer’s-oriented policies, and as a result develop products and services that satisfy customer’s needs and wants beneficially. Often a market opportunity is recognized or there is a commitment to make something better or cheaper, but occasionally the simple desire to invent or introduce a new product or service provides the spur to starting the firm. In developing a programme to reach its intended market, a company starts with product or service designed to satisfy the wants and needs of that target market.
Product failure is the ultimate defining line in poor quality. Smithers Rapra (www.smithersrapra.com) has investigated thousands of product failures and the results of this are shown below. The overwhelming majority of product failures (65%) were caused by poor specification/material selection and design. Of the remaining 35%, 20% were caused by processing (although in many cases this could also potentially be due to poor design) and 15% by misuse (although again good design can minimise the potential for misuse by either clear signposting of the limitations or the design intent)
If product failure has resulted in death, injury or damage to property, statements from those in the vicinity will often be available. The earlier statements have been gathered, the better. Memory fades, and the later a witness is asked to recall events, the greater the chances of error, especially if litigation has started. Bias creeps into statements and there is usually a lack of technical detail, because the interrogator is normally a lawyer with no technical expertise. If there are one or more victims, their memory may be affected by the accident. For example, falls from ladders are among the most common to occur to consumers, but falls from a height often cause mental shock, and amnesia about the events just prior to the fall. Often accidents occur so quickly that the witnesses or victims have great difficulty recalling the sequence of events, making the material remains the only mute evidence to the incident. Circumstantial evidence is frequently the only reliable evidence available, and the material evidence must be checked against any witness statements available.