It's been happening more often: A product is pushed to market, receives rave customer reviews, brand is glowing and the revenue dollars are pouring in. Until a complete 180 is pulled -- when a small (and seemingly fixable) glitch results in potential harm to the customer.

Overnight, it triggers a domino effect. The manufacturer has to make this product deficiency public to ensure consumer safety. The headlines catch wind, thousands of customers get notice and a long-term dent in image and buying backlash result. Increased service and support costs also strain product development budgets -- leaving shrinking opportunities to make product improvements and capture any real revenue on that product line.

Recent examples in the past few months illustrate this:

• In September, Apple recalled certain versions of its iPhone 3G Ultracompact USB power adapter which was found prone to break
• In August, Apple's Japanese unit launched a voluntary recall of its first-generation iPod Nano players after reports of battery fires
• This past June, more than 367,000 Hewlett-Packard fax machines were recalled and deemed fire hazards -- the result of three devices overheating and causing minor property damage

The harsh reality is that any electronics manufacturer is vulnerable to this scenario. When it comes to quality control, no company is too big or too small to be hit hard by flaws and glitches that result from manufacturing errors, inadequate testing, or the rush to get new products into the hands of an eager market.

Thinking bigger -- and bold -- can help manufacturers grasp a hold of the issue, and control quality more intelligently. More manufacturers are putting control into their own hands, taking a broader examination of manufacturing processes -- or in simple terms, quality lifecycle management (QLM) strategies -- to determine the biggest risk spots, whether within the design or assembly phases, where seemingly "innocent" flaws can turn into a major nightmare over quality issues.

Understanding the Origins of Issues

In many cases, these types of glitches may not directly come from a primary manufacturer, but originate from a third-party supplier or OEM who has signed on to provide a single component that eventually fails. In this case, the OEM probably neglected to put the part through the necessary quality checks and balances, or meet the minimum performance standards set by the manufacturer.

Worse, the manufacturer failed to properly apply its own quality management rules to the OEM component, and added this 'weak link' to the product design.

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