TTS GLOBAL
Collect enough context to compare cases
Record SKU, supplier, batch, delivery date, return reason and available photographs. Separate damage, wrong item, functional failure and changed-mind returns. Preserve the customer’s description while adding a consistent investigation category; a complaint code alone may conceal several different causes.
Test the suspected cause
Use the 5 Whys as a questioning aid, not proof. Compare returned units with retained samples, process records and unaffected batches. Check whether use, transport, design, materials or manufacturing could explain the evidence. A useful conclusion identifies what was tested and which alternative explanations remain open.
Verify the next production cycle
Illustrative case: coating damage clusters around one packing configuration. Change and document the protection method, then check packed samples and later return trends. Update the inspection checklist only where the new check addresses the demonstrated cause; adding more photographs alone may not prevent recurrence.