Despite every effort in the development and production processes to provide mature, robust problem-free products to the customer, deviations from the expected performance may occur when the vehicle is in use. Depending on the problem, the defective parts or vehicle components are replaced and the vehicle manufacturer (OEM) or supplier may ask for them to be returned, via the OEM, for analysis.
The field failure analysis of defective parts returned from the field plays a fundamental and multiple role in this area of conflict between quality and costs. It is agreed that, of all the failures reported world-wide, an appropriate number will be returned to the component manufacturer, representing the failure event reported in the market (the so-called reference market procedure). The supplier carries out an analysis of the rejected parts. If a failure is verified, the supplier analyses the root cause and determines who caused the problem. A problem-solving process is initiated by the automobile manufacturer and/or the supplier, depending on who caused the problem. | 
