Archived Copies of Warranty Week

December 2002 to Today

Machine Learning in Warranty Management: Quite a few companies talk about machine learning as the next step to improve warranty management. However, in more detailed discussions, I haven't come across too many real solutions or active projects in that field. In this article I will discuss the topic in more detail -- what is machine learning, what are the comparable use cases in other areas, and which could be the most compelling applications for it in warranty management.
February 27, 2020
Preventing Warranty Fraud: Warranty analytics is the key to detecting and preventing dealer and servicer fraud. This article provides a complete guide to warranty fraud -- what it is, why it's happening, and how in-depth warranty analytics can address it.
June 20, 2019
Service Contracts and the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act:  This article, by two expert attorneys, is intended to help readers navigate the subtle boundaries between the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act and the service contract laws of the U.S. states, and to help explain the key differences between product warranties, service contracts, and insurance.
February 7, 2019
Using the Internet of Things for Warranty Business: Most businesses looks at warranty as an overhead item. Managers are always under pressure to ensure warranty costs stay within limits. They are on the constant lookout for solutions which can help them manage their warranty costs better. The Internet of Things (IoT) is a concept with many possibilities and something that offers great solutions for reducing warranty costs. This article talks about what points a warranty business should consider before implementing the IoT.
October 29, 2015
Warranty Management: Warranty management for manufacturing and sales organizations is becoming an intense focus area. Warranty spending by US-based companies surpasses the Gross Domestic Product of some nations. But warranty is an avoidable cost, if managed efficiently and judiciously. As warranty also involves customers directly, the larger imperative of organizational image is at risk. A prelude to warranty management is information stability, consistency and transparency.

The Chief Information Officer plays a pivotal role to iron out the initial impediments before laying out a smooth track for warranty management in any enterprise. This article brings out the different sources of warranty data, a collaboration model for warranty data, the business dynamics of multiple stakeholders with respect to warranty management and displays ways to assess and improve warranty information maturity.
November 14, 2007
Setting Warranty Policy for Products That Generate Annuity Streams: Most warranty-management analysis concerns warranty as cost, the effect of warranty on customer satisfaction, or the signaling impact of warranty on customers. This article describes a study where the focus was not on the product under warranty, but rather on the effect that warranty length might have on the sales of related peripherals and supplies. These sales generate annuity streams for the manufacturer as long as the product remains in operation. However, cost savings from a shorter warranty period must be weighed against potential lost profit from reduced annuity streams. A shorter warranty policy might cause products to drop out of active use sooner, and the cost savings from a shorter warranty policy therefore might be outweighed by the lost annuity profits.
July 13, 2004