Alan_uk
A2OC Donor
Thinking a bit out loud here 
Just seen yet another recall article: Fiat Chrysler recalls 1.9 million vehicles over air bag defect: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-37379875
This one may be linked to three deaths and five injuries. I wonder how many deaths and injuries have been caused by the 1.9 million vehicles involved in normal road traffic accidents? A lot more I surmise.
These recalls seem to be coming with increasing rapidity (and it's not just cars - Samsung and their exploding Galaxy Note 7 phones. Here it is 35 cases out of 2.5 million phones, all to be recalled; Some 5.3 million faulty tumble dryers were manufactured between April 2004 and September 2015 and sold in the UK - 3 a day catch fire).
Why is this happening on such as scale? - it didn't seem like this say 20 or more years ago. Here's my "back of an envelop" list of reasons:
- global economy has brought fewer manufactures and truly mass market, so the same product is sold in huge quantities
- rush to market has reduced quality assurance throughout the product life cycle (design, prototypes, production, revisions)
- products are designed for low cost now rather than longevity
- products are far more complex
- increasingly products are containing electronics and software, areas traditional manufacturers have little or no experience
- many companies take a simplistic approach to risk management; none or tick box at worst
- better traceability, going back many years, allows manufacturers to precisely identify which items are at risk
- manufacturers are wary of litigation, especially in the USA, if they hide the problem
If companies become bankrupt then we all loose out: less choice, no after sales service, no new recalls on other products, existing products significantly fall in value, significant job losses, and even economies can falter. The "too big to fail syndrome".
Life has risks, I'm a pretty cautious person myself, and some issues like fires can have significant life threatening knock on effects. But is the balance tipping too far? Some expensive recalls don't always fix the problem. For example, in the case of VW the recall wont fix the emissions problem but simply accurately report the emissions at the MOT.
On the other hand, are we expecting too much: more and more sophisticated products, more frequently, and at lower and lower costs?
Just seen yet another recall article: Fiat Chrysler recalls 1.9 million vehicles over air bag defect: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-37379875This one may be linked to three deaths and five injuries. I wonder how many deaths and injuries have been caused by the 1.9 million vehicles involved in normal road traffic accidents? A lot more I surmise.
These recalls seem to be coming with increasing rapidity (and it's not just cars - Samsung and their exploding Galaxy Note 7 phones. Here it is 35 cases out of 2.5 million phones, all to be recalled; Some 5.3 million faulty tumble dryers were manufactured between April 2004 and September 2015 and sold in the UK - 3 a day catch fire).
Why is this happening on such as scale? - it didn't seem like this say 20 or more years ago. Here's my "back of an envelop" list of reasons:
- global economy has brought fewer manufactures and truly mass market, so the same product is sold in huge quantities
- rush to market has reduced quality assurance throughout the product life cycle (design, prototypes, production, revisions)
- products are designed for low cost now rather than longevity
- products are far more complex
- increasingly products are containing electronics and software, areas traditional manufacturers have little or no experience
- many companies take a simplistic approach to risk management; none or tick box at worst
- better traceability, going back many years, allows manufacturers to precisely identify which items are at risk
- manufacturers are wary of litigation, especially in the USA, if they hide the problem
If companies become bankrupt then we all loose out: less choice, no after sales service, no new recalls on other products, existing products significantly fall in value, significant job losses, and even economies can falter. The "too big to fail syndrome".
Life has risks, I'm a pretty cautious person myself, and some issues like fires can have significant life threatening knock on effects. But is the balance tipping too far? Some expensive recalls don't always fix the problem. For example, in the case of VW the recall wont fix the emissions problem but simply accurately report the emissions at the MOT.
On the other hand, are we expecting too much: more and more sophisticated products, more frequently, and at lower and lower costs?
