Incident: Faulty Rear Suspension Recall on 2021 Ford Bronco Sport SUVs

Published Date: 2021-02-19

Postmortem Analysis
Timeline 1. The software failure incident of the Ford Bronco Sport SUVs happened when Ford workers made a mistake while assembling the vehicles, resulting in faulty rear suspensions [111631]. 2. The article was published on 2021-02-19. 3. Estimation: The incident likely occurred a short time before the article was published, so the software failure incident likely happened in February 2021.
System Unknown
Responsible Organization 1. Ford workers [111631]
Impacted Organization 1. Owners of 2021 Ford Bronco Sport SUVs [111631]
Software Causes 1. Unknown
Non-software Causes 1. Mistake made by Ford workers during the assembly of 2021 Ford Bronco Sport SUVs [111631] 2. Faulty rear suspensions due to the suspension modules not being completely secured to the subframe [111631]
Impacts 1. The impacted Ford Bronco Sport SUVs had faulty rear suspensions due to a mistake made during assembly, leading to potential instability while driving and reduced crash performance in the event of a rear impact, increasing the risk of injury to passengers [111631].
Preventions 1. Implementing a more robust quality control process during the assembly of the 2021 Ford Bronco Sport SUVs could have prevented the software failure incident [111631].
Fixes 1. Ensuring all screws and rear bolts are tightened and secure by a technician at a dealer for affected Ford Bronco Sport SUVs [Article 111631].
References 1. Ford (Article 111631)

Software Taxonomy of Faults

Category Option Rationale
Recurring unknown The article does not mention any software failure incident related to either one_organization or multiple_organization. Therefore, the information to answer this question is 'unknown'.
Phase (Design/Operation) unknown The article does not mention any software failure incident related to the development phases (design or operation). Therefore, it is unknown whether the reported incident was due to factors introduced during system development, system updates, or procedures to operate or maintain the system (design), or if it was due to factors introduced by the operation or misuse of the system (operation) [111631].
Boundary (Internal/External) outside_system (a) within_system: The software failure incident in this case is not related to a failure originating from within the system itself. The issue mentioned in the article is about Ford workers making a mistake while assembling the Ford Bronco Sport SUVs, specifically with the faulty rear suspensions. This issue is related to a manufacturing hiccup in the assembly process, rather than a software failure originating from within the system [111631].
Nature (Human/Non-human) human_actions (a) The software failure incident in this case is not related to non-human actions but rather to a mistake made by Ford workers during the assembly of the 2021 Ford Bronco Sport SUVs. The faulty rear suspensions were a result of human error in not completely securing the suspension modules to the subframe, leading to potential instability while driving and reduced crash performance [111631].
Dimension (Hardware/Software) hardware (a) The software failure incident in this case is not related to hardware but rather to a mistake made by Ford workers while assembling the 2021 Ford Bronco Sport SUVs. The issue specifically pertains to the faulty rear suspensions where the suspension modules may not be completely secured to the subframe, leading to potential instability while driving and reduced crash performance in the event of a rear impact [Article 111631]. (b) The software failure incident is not mentioned to have originated from software-related factors in the articles provided.
Objective (Malicious/Non-malicious) non-malicious (a) The software failure incident described in the article is non-malicious. The failure occurred due to a mistake made by Ford workers during the assembly of the 2021 Ford Bronco Sport SUVs, leading to a recall for faulty rear suspensions. The issue was related to the suspension modules not being completely secured to the subframe, which could result in instability while driving and reduced crash performance in the event of a rear impact. Ford mentioned that it was not aware of any crashes or injuries resulting from this manufacturing error [Article 111631].
Intent (Poor/Accidental Decisions) accidental_decisions The software failure incident reported in Article 111631 does not directly relate to a software issue. Instead, it describes a mistake made by Ford workers during the assembly of 2021 Ford Bronco Sport SUVs, leading to a recall for faulty rear suspensions. Therefore, the incident does not fall under the categories of poor_decisions or accidental_decisions related to software failures.
Capability (Incompetence/Accidental) unknown The article does not mention any software failure incident related to development incompetence or accidental factors. Therefore, the information related to these options is unknown.
Duration unknown The article does not mention any software failure incident related to the Ford Bronco Sport SUV recall. Therefore, the duration of the software failure incident in this case is unknown.
Behaviour other (a) crash: The article mentions that the faulty rear suspensions in the 2021 Ford Bronco Sport SUVs could lead to instability while driving and reduced crash performance in the event of a rear impact, potentially increasing the risk of injury to passengers. However, Ford stated that it was not aware of any crashes or injuries due to the manufacturing mistake [111631]. (b) omission: There is no specific mention of the software failure incident being related to the system omitting to perform its intended functions at an instance(s) in the article [111631]. (c) timing: There is no indication in the article that the software failure incident was due to the system performing its intended functions correctly, but too late or too early [111631]. (d) value: The article does not provide information suggesting that the software failure incident was due to the system performing its intended functions incorrectly [111631]. (e) byzantine: The article does not describe the software failure incident as the system behaving erroneously with inconsistent responses and interactions [111631]. (f) other: The software failure incident in this case is related to a manufacturing mistake made by Ford workers while assembling the SUVs, leading to faulty rear suspensions that could impact the stability and crash performance of the vehicles [111631].

IoT System Layer

Layer Option Rationale
Perception None None
Communication None None
Application None None

Other Details

Category Option Rationale
Consequence no_consequence, theoretical_consequence The software failure incident described in Article #111631 does not directly involve a software issue. The reported issue is related to a mistake made during the assembly of Ford Bronco Sport SUVs, specifically with the faulty rear suspensions. Therefore, there is no information in the article about software failure consequences such as death, harm, basic needs impact, property loss, delays, non-human impact, or theoretical consequences. The article only mentions the potential risk of instability while driving and reduced crash performance due to the manufacturing mistake, but no actual incidents of crashes or injuries have been reported as a result of this issue.
Domain manufacturing The software failure incident reported in the article [111631] is related to the manufacturing industry. The incident involves a mistake made by Ford workers during the assembly of 2021 Ford Bronco Sport SUVs, leading to a recall for faulty rear suspensions. This manufacturing hiccup could potentially impact the stability of the SUVs while driving and reduce crash performance in the event of a rear impact, increasing the risk of injury to passengers. Ford has issued a recall to address this issue by ensuring all screws and rear bolts are tightened and secure, highlighting the manufacturing industry's reliance on precise assembly processes to ensure product safety and quality.

Sources

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