IATF 16949 9.3.2.1 identifying potential field failures

Answer:

A field failure is in a broad sense, a failure of the product when used by the customer, or the end user in the intended application. Quality field failure data has often been described as the ultimate source of reliability information.

Usually, the organizations are counting failure events and assess their effect of the end user. And this is just a initial type of information the organization must have. Depending on the type of product the organization manufacturers, there can be different KPIs established, for example number of failures/number of field operational hours. This covers only the requirement 9.3.2.1 k), for requirements under j) the organization needs to conduct FMEA analysis in order to determine potential field failures and their potential frequency and effect and to take actions to mi tigate this risk.

For more information, see: What is FMEA, and how to apply it in IATF 16949 https://advisera.com/16949academy/blog/2017/09/06/what-is-fmea-and-how-to-apply-it-in-iatf-16949/