This Procedure Explains How to Handle the Return of Products by the Customer

Company Name or Logo / Customer Returns
Doc No.: / Process Owner: QA Manager / Revision: A / Page 1 of 3
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1. PURPOSE

This procedure explains how to handle the return of products by the customer.

2. SCOPE

This procedure applies to all products sold to our customers.

3. PROCEDURE

Return Material Authorization is initiated when the customer contacts us to return product for repair or restocking.

Responsibilities/TLM Dashboard / Action
3.1 Sales Department / 3.1.1 Responds to phone calls or e-mails from customers requesting to return material.
3.1.2 The Rejected Material module in The Lean Machine is used to process Returned Material Authorizations by indicating (Custom Field 100) is “RMA.”
3.1.3. A new RMA number is generated and given to the customer.
3.1.4. The RMA manager is assigned to ______so that it will show up on their dashboard.
3.2 Customer / 3.2.1 Returns material with the RMA number from The Lean Machine.
3.3 Receiving / Rej Material to Close / 3.3.1 Scans the RMA form and locates the RMA record in The Lean Machine.
3.3.2 Marks the RMA Reject Code record as being received by the customer by entering the date received.
3.3.3 Routes the product and RMA form to Engineering by assigning the RMA Manager to ______so that is will show up on their dashboard.
3.4 Engineering /
Rej Material to Close / 3.4.1 The technician troubleshoots the cause of the non-conformity and completes the Rejected Material information in The Lean Machine, which is given to the Test Supervisor when completed.
3.4.2 Routes the product and RMA form to the Test Supervisor by assigning the RMA Manager to ______so that is will show up on their dashboard.
3.5 Test Supervisor/Material Review Board/
Rej Material to Close / 3.5.1 Decides if a material review board is needed to determine the disposition of the material and the root cause of the non
3.5.2 If escalated, the review board will investigate the issue.
Their response may include:
Corrective or preventive actions (Corrective and Preventive Action System)
Product recall (Corrective and Preventive Action System)
Product Improvement (Design Control)
Or, continue monitoring customer returns for more information.
3.5.3 The Test supervisor and/or Material Review Board will complete the RMA Information to include:
The model/unit number.
The RMA number assigned by Sales Administration.
Who initiated the RMA.
The type of product.
The customer who returned the unit.
Serial Number.
Qty Rejected
A description of the problem.
Any components requiring replacement or re-work and the defect code that best describes the nature of the non-conformity.
The Reference Designator of the components replaced.
Root caused should be left blank for RMAs.
The Action taken to correct the problem.
· Who repaired the unit and when.
(See the help files for the QMS software for more information on using the software)
The RMA manager is assigned to ______so that it will show up on their dashboard for final processing.
3.6 Sales Administration /
Rej Material to Close / 3.6.1 If the item was still in warranty, the RMA Repair Form is printed from the QMS Software and a copy returned to the customer for their information.
3.6.2 If the item was not under warranty, one copy of the RMA Repair Form is packed with the unit, and another routed to Sales Administration who invoices the customer for the repair.
3.7 Management / 3.7.1 Management reviews and analyzes nonconformity reports available in The Lean Machine software to detect trends and identify the possible need for corrective and preventive actions. These activities are regulated by other procedures, such as Corrective and Preventive Actions, and Management Reviews.

4. DEFINITIONS

See terms and definitions module in The Lean Machine.

(Add the terms below to The Lean Machine, then you can just leave the sentence above for this section)

5. SYSTEM SETTINGS

The screen shot below defines the system settings our company uses for the ______module in The Lean Machine software.