Defective products put strain on the market. They have the potential to ruin the trust between a company and their consumer base. Most important of all, defective products sometimes harm the consumers.
When keeping an eye out for product defects, there are several things to keep in mind. For example, there are three primary categories that almost all product defects fall into.
Design defects
Cornell Law School discusses the three major categories in which products have defects. These categories are: manufacturing, design and marketing defects. Each level of defect has a different impact on the final product. It can also affect how many people suffer from the unexpected risks of the defective product.
First come design defects. This is a defect in the design of the product. In other words, no matter how well a manufacturer produces the item, inherent risks remain. The issues come with the design itself, rather than how it ended up crafted or sold.
Manufacturing defects
Next up: manufacturing defects. In these cases, the product design is safe. Unfortunately, something goes wrong during its creation that makes a batch dangerous and unusable. You can look at car part defects as a good example of this. A tire is safe by design. But sometimes, something goes wrong when manufactures make one. Maybe the rubber is too thin or the tire does not fit on the rim properly.
Marketing defects
Finally, you have marketing defects. These defects exist in the packaging and selling of an item. Examples include heat styling tools that forget to warn the user of burn risks. Another common example involves medication that does not have correct dosage information.
A defect at any level can lead to hundreds or even thousands of people suffering from harm. Some even die. Because of this, a company should address any defect immediately and pay damages to those harmed.
