Have you ever received a customer complaint with blurry photos and a demand for immediate action, but insufficient detail to actually take that action? Or the customer, in his or her haste to get the complaint out, neglected to mention which part failed or to provide a clear description of what the complaint is all about? You may have difficulties taking action if the customer simply told you, “There’s a crack.”

Both customers and suppliers can take actions to help ensure a quicker reaction to a failure. The supplier of a failed component owes the customer action to protect the customer and prevent a reoccurrence; however, data are needed to accomplish this. Important questions that must be answered at the start of a complaint include: What part failed? How many failed? What exactly is the failure, and where was it found? Customers should automatically provide this information.

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