| Our modern world has created an array of incredibly | | | | return merchandise authorizations - the customer |
| complex systems, and incredibly complex processes | | | | reports the defect in the item, submits a report, and |
| for making goods, writing software, and developing | | | | gets a shipping tag to send the defective item in and |
| new products. This complexity allows modern coding | | | | get a replacement. (This is also used by several |
| and manufacturing to scale up to levels of societal and | | | | internet point of sale sites, such as Amazon, to handle |
| personal wealth unimaginable to people living even a | | | | customer returns.) |
| century ago, but they do mean that every step along | | | | Defect tracking tools are all about maintaining a chain |
| the way, there's a chance for defects and other | | | | of responsibility, from the time the problem is indicated, |
| issues to get wrapped up in the process and need | | | | to the time the problem is resolved. They allow the end |
| coordinated development. Defect tracking tools are a | | | | user to see the status of their problem, they allow the |
| major part the total product life cycle investment. | | | | managers of the staffers solving the problem to see |
| Defect trackers, much like software bug trackers, | | | | what's going on, who's assigned to the problem and |
| allow users to input reports about issues they're having | | | | see if they need more help, and they allow people |
| with a product; where they differ is that they're not | | | | doing new product development to get a statistical |
| limited solely to software issues; they can be used for | | | | database of what kinds of issues a product is having; |
| a wide variety of projects, ranging from reporting on | | | | this can weed out manufacturing problem defects, or |
| hardware defects in toys and consumer electronics to | | | | sometimes lead to entire new product categories, as a |
| being an internal tool for diagnosing product | | | | significant number of customers use a product for |
| dependency chain issues and help desk support. | | | | things it was never intended for, which indicates a |
| Indeed, help desk management software is a set of | | | | demand for something that could be developed |
| generalized defect tracking tools at its core: Someone | | | | profitably. |
| reports a problem, the problem is assigned to | | | | A good defect tracking tool set can help you not only |
| someone who has to fix it, as the problem is | | | | improve your process for solving problems brought to |
| documented (and the fix is implemented) the process | | | | you by your customer base, but can help you meet |
| is documented, and ideally, the person who reported | | | | the basic paradigm that every problem a customer |
| the problem gets a report of its ongoing progress. | | | | brings you is an opportunity to either improve your |
| In manufacturing, defect tracking software is used for | | | | product, or generate new business. |