CIMdata PLM Industry Summary Online Archive
5 March 2008
Company News
Automotive Warranty Management Solution Requires Industry Collaboration
BearingPoint, Inc. published the results of a study of automotive manufacturers and suppliers on issues surrounding warranty management. Among the key findings profiled in the “Global Automotive Warranty Survey Report”: Responsibility for warranty management is fragmented; widely varying perspectives exist with respect to key issues; clear warranty cost targets are rare; and limited win-win approaches between OEMs and suppliers have thus far been enacted.
BearingPoint’s Automotive Practice teamed with the Original Equipment Suppliers Association (OESA), Automotive Industry Action Group (AIAG), European Association of Automotive Suppliers (CLEPA) and Warranty Week magazine on the study. Copies of the complete report can be downloaded at http://www.bearingpoint.com.
“Lagging sales in North America and Europe, stricter regulations, industry restructuring, increased competition, and more product complexity all affect the task of warranty management,” said Robert Baxendale, survey director and a senior manager in BearingPoint’s Automotive practice. “Now more than ever, warranty management has a direct impact on the profitability of an original equipment manufacturer, its dealer network and the myriad suppliers on which it depends.”
Estimates of global spend on warranty claims run between $45 billion and $50 billion. In the United States, automotive manufacturers and their suppliers spent almost $13 billion on warranty claims in 2006, according to Warranty Week.
Building on the study’s findings, BearingPoint recommends OEMs and suppliers:
• Build on survey respondent’s broad desire to increase collaboration by making data gathering, sharing and analysis initiatives a top priority.
• Emphasize standardization. To date, there are no industry-wide standards for warranty communication or warranty management processes among OEMs and suppliers.
• Insist on timely and efficient communication of warranty claims, parts and diagnostic data.
Additional recommendations, as well as detailed findings and observations by OESA, AIAG, CLEPA and top warranty executives can be found in the report at http://www.bearingpoint.com.
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