Product can be an engineering design or manufacturers output. Fortunately, the historical data from the past or similar products has given sufficient input to respond to this question.
This question becomes far more interesting to respond on newly introduced products where it is not commonly known in the community. Of course, now when you purchase a hammer and a hammer incident does not have legal merit in the court system. The common sense is primarily used in the judgment.
It is true that the new products undergo major laboratory testing and analysis. During such control environment, all products and associated positioning are handles by factory employees and inventors. When the product is released, the circumstance is altered. A very controlled protocol is required to accompany the product. Till this product becomes a hammer like product, this protocol is mandatory and becomes part of the installation guidelines. The epoxy steel anchors in concrete are a very good example. Epoxy as an anchor supports an equipment during earthquake. Imagine a catastrophic failure of the anchor and its consequences. The International Code Councils codes mandate that all installation must be observed by independent approved inspectors for every installation across the country.
The coating industry now mandates many inspections in all projects by their local vendors prior to accepting the warranty of the coating. If the preparation of the project is not proper, the coating will not last and the manufacturer will by responsible for reinstalling the coating. This is similar to manufacturer recalls that can become a major issue for the manufacturer.
The relatively newly introduced polyethylene for the plumbing industry has shown a very unique business model to insure lower liability for the manufacturers. The PE pipe itself is not a major question, the connection of the PE pipe is. The manufacturer only insures the connection by licensed and specialized sub-contractors. This limits the liability of joint failures. Due to these measures, the PE piping is becoming more acceptable within the plumbing industry.
To limit the product liability, the critical component is how to insure and replicate the work in the laboratory in the field. The response is multi-fold and is categorized as Human factors, the machinery used, the climatic and the environment, the raw materials, and precision and tolerances available.
Human Factor:
The individuals handling, mixing, fabrication and installing the product must be capable, familiar, and thoroughly confident prior to any activities. A training basis must be established that may require special certified installers with full training.
Machinery Used:
The equipment used for mixing, preparing, and final application of product must mimic the laboratory with near same precision in any conditions, Alaska or Arizona. This equipment must have the same scrutiny as any equipment in any other industry. In case of organic compounds such as resins as adhesives require precise mixing for complete product. The non-Newtonian and highly viscous adhesive fluids are not very receptive for conventional buckets. This is specially amplified by large volumes. Wrong dosage and wrong viscosity levels during this mixing can become a major concern for the final product.
Climatic and Environmental:
The temperature, the moisture, the dust, and other climatic environmental issues can alter the result of product immensely. The viscosity and chemical behavior of adhesive are dependent on climatic and environmental conditions. This is true when mixing, applying and finishing the project using the materials prepared.
Raw Materials:
The Raw materials are made by other factories and their specifications and their liabilities are intertwined with all other liabilities. The probability of identifying best product is very high. Best formulation is a key for any adhesive products. This is true for fabrics, resins, and any other raw materials used for installation of the final product.
Precision and Tolerances:
This issue is culmination of all of the above. This is cumulating of permutation of all failures. The organic reaction of the final product must be accompanied with high tolerance of the mixtures.
Given the above positions, the evaluation of final product and manufacture must be based on having capabilities that has the least liability. This can be based on best practical human resources and technical capabilities, machinery used must be highly accurate and receptive for any climate of environment, the installation must be adaptable for all climates and environments, and raw materials must carry same specifications at all times.
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