Situations · Crisis
When a serious product defect surfaces, judge safety first, then scope and whether the batch can be isolated, before choosing a stop-sale, recall, or targeted fix.
The first judgement in a serious quality incident is a single one: can this hurt someone? If it can, stop selling and notify first, and discuss cost and liability later.
The order of judgement is: which batch and which step the problem came from, which customers already hold affected units, and whether you can isolate it before it spreads further.
In most cases, notifying and remedying before customers discover the problem costs less in the end and loses less trust than waiting for complaints to pile up.
Also searching for: product quality incident what to do · serious product defect response · product recall decision · batch quality problem customers
For a safety issue, every day of delay is later counted as knowing and not telling.
Handling only the units complained about, without checking the same batch or process, so the second wave of complaints is bigger.
Spending the first days on who is at fault instead of on scope and containment.
Customers need to know how to identify affected units, how to return or exchange them, and when they get good product. A vague apology angers them.
What the defect does in the worst case, and whether any harm or near miss has already happened. This decides the speed of everything that follows.
Affected batches, quantities, and where they went. Whether batch or serial numbers can separate affected units from good ones.
Design, incoming material, process, or transport. You do not need the root cause on day one, but you need to know whether it is still producing more affected units.
The Art of War, chapter 4, Tactical Dispositions
First make yourself invincible, then wait for the enemy's vulnerability.
Invincibility in a quality incident means stopping the loss that is still growing: halt the affected line, isolate the batch, notify customers. Only once that is done is there room for root cause, recovery, and reputation. Reverse the order and every step hands an opening to competitors and public opinion.
Stop sales and shipments immediately, start the recall procedure required by the regulator, and tell customers publicly how to identify and handle affected units. Freeze the batch in stock and appoint a single spokesperson.
No blanket recall. Notify affected customers by batch number, offer free replacement or repair, and publish a repair timeline. Make the process simpler than customers expect.
Recover the complained units for analysis and sample stock and units on sale. Until the cause is known, tell customers the known facts and what you are doing, and do not promise a cause.
Tell the strategist what the defect looks like, which batches are involved, which customers have them, and whether there is a safety risk. Incomplete data is fine.
The strategist splits the incident into four lines, containment, isolation, communication, and root cause, and sets each line's urgency by safety.
You leave with an action card: what must be done today, and the signal that escalates a targeted fix into a full recall.
This page covers the order of judgement. Your own situation, opponent, and resources are worked through with the strategist in the app.
Get the app and run your situationIt depends on isolation. If batch numbers define the affected scope, notify that batch's customers. If the scope cannot be pinned down, notify wider. Under-notifying costs far more than over-notifying.
When personal safety is involved, a mandatory standard is breached, or a regulator requires it, and then the local recall procedure applies. Functional defects can be fixed in a targeted way, with a written record.
Acknowledge confirmed facts; say you are investigating where the cause is unknown; do not guess. Acknowledging facts is not the same as accepting full legal liability, and the two are handled separately.
Finish the remedy first. Customers judge the speed and transparency of your handling, and many trust a supplier more after a well-handled incident.
Crisis · When a complaint spreads online, stop the spread and unify the facts and the voice first, then choose how to respond. Three conclusions, common mistakes, three checks, three plays.
Crisis · When a supplier fails without warning, count days of inventory and which customers are hit first, then decide whether to secure stock, switch sources, or reschedule deliveries.
Crisis · When a negative story runs, sort it into true, partly true, and false, appoint one spokesperson, then choose between acknowledging, correcting, or staying silent.
Crisis · When your largest customer says they are leaving, find the real reason and their timetable, size the cash and capacity gap, then choose retention, a managed exit, or both.
This page covers the order of judgement and is not legal, quality management, or product safety advice. Safety-related defects must follow the recall rules of the local regulator; contact the relevant authorities immediately.