Product Recall

INTRODUCTION

Recalling the laptops because of overheating problem has been a long issue form many years. Many a times, overheating problem is caused by battery default. In this history of such recalls, Dells laptop recall in 2006 was largest recall till date. Computer maker Dell said it would recall 4.1 million laptop computer batteries because of a potential fire hazard. (IDG Service News, 2006) These are the faulty products which are rejected or not well suited with customer needs and all. And then they create Quality Issues. Same recall happened with Acer 22,000 laptops, which were recalled in October 2009 across multiple retailers. Six Models were recalled e.g. AS3410, AS3810T, AS3810TG, AS3810TZ, AS3810TZG. All models has almost same problem of overheating underneath near palm. Most of the times overheating created by either over time dust and other particles clog the vents, fan and exhaust port or radiator of the system thus restricting air flow and cooling, and also because of overheating battery. (Humphries, 2010)

PROBLEM

Overheated Acer laptop form underneath can be in many ways like the problem is that over time dust and other particles clog the vents, fan and exhaust port or radiator of the system thus restricting air flow and cooling. But the main problem in six Acer models stems from a microphone cable which runs underneath where your left palm would normally sit on the laptops. The overheating occurs if extreme pressure is applied repeatedly to that area of the laptop. We dont know what classes as extreme pressure, but to have a recall means it cant be that much force. You will know it is happening as the laptop case will become deformed and if your palm is touching the laptop then it may get burned. Such problems are the reasons for depreciating Acer laptops quality and reputation in customers mind. In that situation one question comes into the mind what happens if quality is not there and what are the implications for the same. The implication of such problems in Acer laptops can generate the Quality Loss. This quality loss is severe for both parties whether it is Acer Company or customer. Directly or indirectly its going to increase the cost of production or to damage reputation of Acer. On the other hand customers who buy the Acer laptop they will switch over to other brand because of quality issue in Acer. Acer laptops overheating problem has some following symptoms:Computer feels hot when you put your hand against the underside, or burns your legs when you have it on your lap. The computer shuts down or restarts. The laptops internal fan comes on more than it used to. The computer shuts down more quickly if you turn it on again after it has already switched itself off once.

There have been very severe accidents of burning laptop by overheating caused the death of human. Some 2-3 examples I can give where people died by overheating in laptops like: Last year in Israel a burning laptop on the bed resulted death of six people. After investigation they found that the laptop computer had been placed on a bed's mattress, causing it to overheat and set the mattress on fire. The burning mattress emitted great heat and a large amount of smoke and soot in a short time, causing the quick death of the victims from asphyxiation. (Israel National News, 2012) Another incident took place in 2009 in Canada where person died by burning laptop. After investigation they found the fire started after the computer was left on a couch, plugged in and turned on. Because of the lack of ventilation under the laptop, less than an hour later the lithium-ion battery overheated and burst into flames, sparking the fire that eventually killed the man.(CBC News, 2009)

THE SOLUTION

To solve this problem only Acer Company needs not to take correction steps, but customer also. Laptop is a machine which is made by so many parts in a very congested way. But company can reduce this problem up to large extent by taking care of many things like Quality-cost analysis, QC methods and some other mistakes proofing methods.
QUALITY-COST ANALYSIS

This analysis is very much necessary to reduce overheating problem. As we know there four costs e.g. Prevention cost, Appraisal coat, Internal failure cost and external failure cost. If Acer analysed and understood these costs, then the problem of overheating would have been mitigated enough. How a company like Acer can benefit by managing these costs:Prevention cost: Acer should design the internal components like CPU, Graphics Card, Fan and all in this way so that they do not get overheated. For the same all parts should be received from good suppliers. All employees should be well trained enough. This is the cost where Acer needs be concentrated more than other costs. Appraisal cost: There should be very stringent standards to follow. In between the process laptop should be check to know whether it meets the standard like Fan in laptop ok or not. Also the material which is coming that should be inspected again whether it accepted or not. After the Prevention cost this cost should be focused before remaining costs. Internal failure cost: When laptops are manufactured completely, still some scraps left out. If Acer focuses more on first two costs then this cost will be reduced automatically. But at this stage company also needs to re-work and re-check the things before delivering to the customer.

External failure cost: This cost is dependent on the rest three costs. Because if Acer does not have proper designing, planning, training, measuring, evaluating and rechecking then this cost will be higher. Customer may put many complaints for Acer low quality laptop if other costs are not managed.
PROCESS MANAGEMENT

This is very crucial to reduce the problem of overheating for Acer. Acer should have a best planning and controlling into place. This is a systematic approach to making the organization's workflow more effective, more efficient and more capable of adapting to an ever-changing environment. A business process is an activity or set of activities that will accomplish a specific organizational goal of Acer. This will reduce human error and miscommunication and focus on the problems of overheating. In this case Acer can use Design processes. In this particular process all products specification will be defined. Like where and how to adjust the CPU, Graphics Card, Fan and all parts in laptop so that overheating problem can be mitigated.
QC TOOLS

These tools are very much essential to avoid such overheating problem in laptop. There are many quality control tools which are relevant to apply here in this case like Pareto Chart, Flowchart and Cause and Effect diagram. Pareto Chart By this tool Acer as a company can gauge which particular activities have more importance than others. Because it said that many a time 80% of the problem attributed to 20% of the causes. In this case of overheating laptop I think design is main factor which controls the better quality laptop. If all internal parts like CPU, Graphics Card and Fan are designed well, then they will not get overheated very early. Flowchart Company can use flowchart method a graphical representation of all processes. By this method a place can be identified where company needs to improve upon. Like company can see overheating problem caused by Fan (yes or no) or by very congested parts (yes or no). In this way company can analyse activity, then decision to be taken yes or no. Cause and Effect diagram This method may be efficient than other tools, because it specifies quality problem caused by various things like production methods, men, place and machine. In this case problem is overheating laptop. Reasons for this problem can be many like men are not trained properly, machines are not efficient and material is not up to the mark. As we know Acer is known for its machines and methods, so I think this overheating problem has the reason of material. There may be like, quality of laptops part like Fan which is not good, there gets obsoleted after some time.

CONCLUSION

One thing is apparent to us that such problem like Overheating Laptop can be mitigated to large extent, but cannot be avoided at all. To mitigate this problem there are some cautions which should be taken care of by customer as well, not only company. Following are some tips for a customer to mitigate overheating problem in laptop:Don't use your laptop on soft surfaces such as a sofa, carpeting or pillow. Any vents located on the bottom of your laptop will be blocked and airflow will be reduced causing it to overheat. Use a lap desk, tray table or even a wooden cutting board to provide a solid, flat surface to allow proper airflow. Use a can of compressed air on your fan once in a month so that any dust or unwanted particles get cleared for the smooth functioning of the fan. Using a vacuum may cause ESD and damage the components to your laptop. Be sure to clean out your laptop thoroughly once in a while to avoid dust particles entering in places they are not needed. Simply add the spare wire grill tray from your toaster oven or even your regular oven. Balance is perfect and air circulation is just as perfect. Finally, we can say that to have a better product in the market, quality management is very much required. Acer products are the laptops which are used by customer all the times; customer has to be satisfied all the times as well. Then only Acer can reduce the Product Recall. All methods and techniques e.g. process management, quality control, quality assurance, QC tools and many more are should be in place to mitigate such problems.

REFERENCE

CBC News. (2009). Retrieved from http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/britishcolumbia/story/2009/08/26/bc-overheating-laptop-fire-death-vancouver.html Humphries, M. (2010, Jan 11). Acer recalls six laptop models due to overheating problem. Retrieved from geek.com: http://www.geek.com/articles/chips/acer-recalls-six-laptopmodels-due-to-overheating-problem-20100111/ IDG Service News. (2006, Aug 14). pcworld.com. Retrieved from pcworld.com. Israel National News. (2012, Mar 15). Retrieved from http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/155816#.UQf0ymfgbko