ABSTRACT
Eliminating the defect is best accomplished by eliminating its root cause or causes. Eliminating the root causes of quality and reliability defects is the most effective way to permanently discontinue defect recurrence and, with variable degrees of success, accomplish defect prevention. Whether the defect occurs during manufacturing, during transport to the customer, or is a latent defect that shows up later in the product life, the methods of determining the root cause and developing corrective action are the same. Root cause elimination is done by completing an investigation to identify the causes of the defects observed and then developing and implementing corrective actions that will eliminate those causes. When the corrective action is successfully implemented, the defect frequency will decrease. Naturally, there will be a noticeable time lag in field returns before you see a reduction of the number of returned products that have the particular defects for which you have just recently implemented corrective action.
