4 steps to optimize your defect management process
In the field of defect management, the best defects are those that have never occurred. Prevention is better than cure. However, before our product development team's tools and processes reach perfection, we should consider how to manage defects so that we can launch new products (NPI) more easily and faster and continue to improve products.
The problem is that defect management is usually considered to be a small part of the development process, which only belongs to one or two teams in the company and does not require management attention, improvement or investment.
Let us think about defect management today. Below is a comprehensive summary of our most common in the world of complex products (with mechanical, electrical, software and/or firmware components).
Make defect management a priority
Would you risk recalling the product?
Judging from the response of the user market, Samsung's Galaxy Note 7 may be the most influential in brand management, the highest total recall cost, and it is also one of the most insightful cases. It remains to be seen whether these surprising mobile phone defects are monitoring issues or internal testing issues, but defect management is likely to be the core cause of the problem.
Once defect management is handled improperly, this will happen: product recalls can lead to a decline in the stock market, loss of corporate revenue, loss of users and potential users, damage to brand reputation, and so on. The worst result of poor defect management is to continuously increase costs in a continuous and invisible way, resulting in a longer new product development (NPD) cycle.
Every company doesn't want a product to be recalled, because it will miss the best time to market, while disappointing users, and so on. However, we are often too entangled in design, testing and production, too late to formulate defect management procedures in advance to reduce risks in advance.
682 consumer product recalls in 2017
There were 682 product recalls in 2017-which means that there will be about 2 product recalls every day (these are still consumer-centric products)
Looking at other industries, there is no exception. As shown above, in 2017, the FDA issued 52 level 1 medical device recalls, 2,838 level 2 recalls (12% of which were recalled due to product design reasons) and 40 level 3 recalls. Institution h1
Defect management procedures and strategies
In this article, we provide four steps to help you evaluate how to manage defects and find gaps to achieve the goal of getting closer to zero defects.
One
Defect visibility
Can we see the defects in our products and teams?
-
of course can
-
Maybe I need to ask someone
-
can not see
If you can't answer "Of course you can" very calmly, then please see here: We can never manage what we can't see. The success of new product development comes from strict management of cost, quality, function and time. If you do not understand the defects in the product, then everyone on the team does not know what they are doing and what it means to do so.
Visibility is to find and discover the defects in the product, and to conduct reasonable management and propose a solution mechanism for these defects. The solution can be very simple-list out what the defects are and how they should be solved, or build a knowledge base so that everyone in the team can solve different defects according to a standard.
Management strategy: Establish a reasonable and standardized defect management system for the team to use together.
two
Prioritize defects
Can we conduct risk assessment and prioritization of defects?
-
Yes, and everyone knows
-
In most cases yes
-
Can't
Now that we have found product defects, the next step is to determine the priority of defect handling-this is very important, because priority will drive our approach. However, the data itself is a distraction, so the quality of the collected data is very important. Collecting too much or no value at all will reduce the team's efficiency in defect management.
The following aspects should also be paid attention to when determining the priority of defects: the severity of the defect (very serious or small defect with little impact), the cost of repairing the defect, the product stage in which the defect exists, and the type of defect, etc.
Management strategy: The key to determining the priority of defect handling is to first determine the severity and repairability of the defect.
three
Develop defect solutions
Have we taken timely measures to repair the defects?
-
Yes, we have a reasonable defect handling plan, which can quickly deal with defects
-
We don’t have a solution, we will launch the product first
-
Don't know how to deal with it at all
The sooner the defects are found, the earlier the defect treatment plan can be formulated. Research shows that the earlier the defect repair can reduce the cost by 3-5 times or more.
Action requires teamwork, division of labor and execution. By establishing an efficient defect management system, you can quickly view all defects and their processing progress.
Management strategy: In addition to establishing a quick response defect management system, teamwork is also the key. Defect solutions should be discussed and decided by all members of the team.
four
Defect analysis
Do we have a defect prevention method that can almost achieve zero defects?
-
Yes we are ready
-
Working hard to achieve, we sometimes conduct defect analysis
-
No
After mastering the above 3 management strategies, you can then analyze and reproduce defects. A good defect analysis is the basis for achieving the goal of zero defects in products.
The prerequisite for preventing defects is to integrate all key defect data, formulate solutions, and perform defect analysis, which is the content of steps 1-3. Perform a comprehensive analysis of the integrated defect data, find out the root cause of the permission, and avoid the recurrence of similar defects. A mind that can analyze defects calmly and a complete defect management system are necessary conditions for achieving the goal of zero defects in products.
Management strategy: Defect analysis should be the priority of the product in the entire development process.
Elon Musk once said: "I think it is very important to have a feedback loop. You will keep thinking about what you have done and how to do it better." Elon Musk is a space exploration technology company ( SpaceX) CEO and CTO, Tesla CEO and product architect, he may be your idol or you have no feeling for him, but one thing is certain: that is that he has been very challenging and has not yet The field of development-the achievements in the field of alternative energy and space travel are undisputed. Learning to analyze is not the only key factor for Musk's success, but it is one of the key factors.
Written at the end,
if you are interested in python automated testing, web automation, interface automation, mobile terminal automation, interview experience exchange, etc., you can follow the WeChat official account: [Programmer Erhei] to get an interview with a software test engineer data! My learning exchange group: 785128166 There are technical experts in the group to exchange and share~
If the article is of interest to you, please reach out to make a fortune and give me a like. Thank you for your support. Your likes are my motivation for continuous updates.