Legal Definitions - Manufacturing Defect

A manufacturing defect refers to a flaw in a product that occurs during its production, causing a specific item to deviate from its intended design. This means that while the product's overall design might be safe, an error in the manufacturing process made this particular unit unsafe or more dangerous than a consumer would reasonably expect.

Here are some examples to illustrate this concept:

• Automotive Brake Failure: Imagine a brand-new car that, shortly after purchase, experiences a complete brake failure. An investigation reveals that a critical brake line was improperly installed or crimped during the vehicle's assembly on the production line, leading to a fluid leak and loss of braking power. The car model's design for its brake system is sound and safe. However, this specific car has a manufacturing defect because the brake line departed from the intended, safe assembly process, making it unexpectedly dangerous to drive.

• Exploding Smartphone Battery: A consumer purchases a new smartphone, and within days, its battery unexpectedly overheats and catches fire while charging. Forensic analysis determines that a specific batch of batteries used in these phones had a wiring error introduced during their production, causing them to short-circuit under normal use. The smartphone model was designed to be safe, but a mistake in the manufacturing of *these particular battery units* caused them to deviate from that safe design, creating a significant and unexpected hazard.

• Contaminated Packaged Food: A person opens a sealed bag of frozen vegetables and discovers a small metal bolt mixed in with the food. The food product's recipe and packaging process are designed to produce safe, edible food. The presence of the metal bolt indicates an error during the manufacturing or packaging process for that specific bag, where a foreign object accidentally entered the product stream. This departure from the intended, safe production process makes the food unexpectedly hazardous to consume.