Archived Copies of Warranty Week

December 2002 to Today

ServiceBench Signs HomeServe: When it came time to upgrade its field service management system, the home warranty company turned to Asurion's ServiceBench unit for a cloud-based service platform that could connect its customers, contractors, and service center team, helping them to make sure that the right contractor is assigned for the job and that they show up at the appointed time.
August 23, 2018
Thirteenth Annual Product Warranty Report: As the latest charts clearly show, American manufacturers are spending less on warranty than they used to. But is it because of better products, less costly repairs, or fewer sales? Now that the 2015 warranty expense data collection is almost complete, it's time to figure out why claims and accruals are declining.
March 24, 2016
GM's & Ford's Warranty Adjustments: Both automakers have recently run into trouble, and have had to add hundreds of millions of dollars to their warranty reserve funds to pay for all the unexpected warranty work. But because it's unexpected, it doesn't show up on charts that track only the "regular" warranty accruals.
November 6, 2014
Vehicle Service Contract Conference: This year, it will be possible for an attendee at the WCM Conference to hone in on some high-level discussions about issues affecting the vehicle service contract industry. They used to do that in the fall at a show in Vegas, but that event has gone in a different direction.
February 13, 2014
Warranty Workshops: Three of the four pre-conference workshops at this year's WCM Conference are built around analytics, but none require much math. Instead, they lay out the business case for analytics, and the benefits the software and services can provide. Another workshop promises to show diversified manufacturers how to gain a global view of their warranty operations.
February 21, 2013
Japanese Electronics Warranties: Four electronics manufacturers that are based in Japan but export their products worldwide show below-average warranty expense rates. Part of the reason is what they make. But could part of the reason also be where they make it?
July 19, 2012
Warranty Fraud Detection: SAS says send us your claims data and we'll show you the fraud. If upwards of 10% to 15% of claims are in some way suspect, such a system could pay for itself in just a few months. Does it sound too good to be true? GE Appliances was the first customer.
February 25, 2010
Warranty Optimization Workshops: Warranty data analysis can help you understand where you've been and where you're going. But can it also help you choose the right way to get there? At pre-conference workshops next month, two leading warranty optimization companies plan to show how both product warranty and service contract programs can benefit from the careful use of analytics.
February 12, 2009
Off-Road Vehicle Warranties: As might be expected, companies selling vehicles closely linked to summer recreation and the growing season show a cyclical pattern in their warranty claims. Those more identified with construction equipment, however, show no cyclical pattern, though several have seen recent rises in warranty costs.
September 12, 2008
RV & New Home Warranties: Sales are declining so claims rates are rising. But a few homebuilders have radically cut the amount they set aside per unit sold, raising suspicions that they're intentionally estimating low. Meanwhile, homes on wheels continue to show higher warranty costs.
June 20, 2008
Top 100 Warranty Providers: Key ratios show how some manufacturers have made fairly radical changes in their warranty finances over the past year. But, like a dog that doesn't bark, what's remarkable is how few of the biggest warranty providers have seen relatively big increases or decreases since March 2007.
June 12, 2008
Warranty Analysis Workshops: Four pre-show workshops and an automotive warranty seminar make the day before the official opening of WCM 2007 a worthy destination, and may presage an era when advanced courses and certification become a routine feature of warranty industry events.
February 21, 2007
Mark Your Calendars: Both pre- and post-show events now surround the WCM conference in early March, plus there are now additional warranty events to consider attending in February and June.
January 18, 2006
Warranty Management Conference: If the WCM show in March drew heavily from Silicon Valley, last week's warranty show in Chicago attracted a mainly Midwestern crowd of manufacturers, who came to hear about the best practices of their peers. What they heard instead was lots about service and quality and other topics at the periphery of warranty.
September 27, 2005
Warranty Claims & Accruals: Ten quarters of data for the top ten U.S.-based warranty providers show just how variable and seasonal claims rates can be for some companies and how consistent they've been for others.
August 23, 2005
Early Warning Systems: The benefits, we suspect, are huge. But so are the costs. In an era when investments in new computer software must show a return or else, what will be the ROI for warranty analytics?
June 7, 2005
Comparing Warranties at the New York Auto Show  
April 22, 2003
CES Wrapup - What Recession? Consumer Electronics Thrives During Downturns, Las Vegas CES Show Was Packed
January 20, 2003