ACCESSORY TOOLING MODIFICATION
An increasing trend for inoperable overmold power buttons on a safety accessory prompted a focused investigation to address the potential usability issue. This investigation aimed to identify a root cause and implement improvements before a large reorder PO was due, helping to mitigate future warranty claims.
Year: 2024
Duration: 4 Months
Role: Quality Developer
Scope: Resolved finished goods quality issues with factory partners. Implemented an inline solution.
To identify root cause, quickly resolve the usability issue with the overmold power button, and ensure the product's functionality and reliability for future production.
OBJECTIVE
Warranty data and feedback from international stakeholders highlighted an increasing trend of inoperable power buttons. Due to process constraints, we believe the case total was underreported. While the recorded failure rate and ratios were within acceptable quality limits, the issue trend was significantly up year over year. Affected and non-affected pieces were cosmetically identical.
WHY
ROOT CAUSE
INVESTIGATION
To identify and validate the primary factors contributing to usability issues with the overmolded power switch.
Analyzed warranty trends and stakeholder feedback highlighting increased difficulty in depressing the power button. Reviewed factory QC documents for post-production inspection criteria. Received physical defect samples back for dissection and in-house testing.
Data Collection
Conducted in-house testing with randomly selected samples from the 3PL warehouse in Portland. Our international liaison office performed adjacent testing and provided these results for comparison. Testing simulated real-world usage to identify variability in usability, focusing on force application and alignment.
Testing
ROOT CAUSE
DESIGN DEFECT
Misalignment between the overmold and underlying trigger created inconsistent force distribution. The original design intent to prevent accidental depression inadvertently led to inoperable function for affected pieces. We hypothesized by reducing the overall resistance at the trigger we could mitigate future issues. In-house testing confirmed a rolling change would not hinder the function of non-affected pieces.
We hypothesized by reducing the overall resistance at the trigger we could mitigate future issues. In-house testing confirmed a rolling change would not hinder the function of non-affected pieces.
Through ongoing conversations with the manufacturing partner and key stakeholders, mold modification was identified as the simplest and most cost-effective solution.
Two small incisions were introduced on each side of the overmold trigger, reducing trigger stiffness while increasing the probability of consistent trigger depression. The solution required a minor tooling change. The proposed solution was approved by product stakeholders as an inline change for future POs. The collaboration with our manufacturing partner highlighted opportunities for future data driven improvement projects.