After a long sequence of minor problems, shipments finally began seven months after the planned date for market introduction. During the next four months, orders held up fairly well, but the company built and shipped only 52 units—not the 175 on which the budget was based. Moreover, of these 52 units, customers reported more than half as defective. Medical Technologies had 5 repaired in the field; 11 were slated to be returned to the factory for more extensive work; the company’s field personnel had yet to inspect the remaining 13. Quality control and marketing both called for a halt in shipments until the company solved Unitech’s reliability problems.