AIAG Training: Integrating the Consumer-Centric Warranty Management Guideline

Implementing a warranty process that delivers best practices

Published: Tuesday, July 6, 2010 - 08:14

When the Automotive Industry Action Group (AIAG) develops a new guideline or updates an existing one, it is often accompanied by the availability of new training. In the case of the second edition of Consumer-Centric Warranty Management Guideline: A Guideline for Industry Best Practices (product code CQI-14), the goal of the training is to develop practitioners well-versed in the tools provided in the manual to implement a warranty process that delivers best practices.

The best practices in the guideline have been developed based on the collective experiences of team members in the North American automotive original equipment manufacturer (OEM), light vehicle market. From General Motor Co.’s perspective, this project is an opportunity to be proactive within the value chain, working with OEMs, suppliers, and customers to identify and reduce warranty issues, and an opportunity to save billions of dollars in warranty cost. The benefit of industrywide training will accelerate the learning curve and more readily enable culture change.

The training course, “Integrating the Consumer-Centric Warranty Management Guideline” (CQI-14) provides a best-practice approach for managing warranty processes with the consumer in mind. Team involvement in the training is encouraged, when possible, to provide companies with trained practitioners who have the insights and knowledge to address issues that occur in the field.

The training will demonstrate how to handle and investigate issues that have “No Trouble Found” (NTF), and assist the attendee in adopting a standardized approach to understanding NTF problem solving and directions for preventing those issues once and for all.

The coursework covers how to use the guideline, the role of upper management, and how to benchmark the warranty management process. The tools included in this guideline are fully explained, including the decision tree and the system assessment for warranty, along with their use and practical study and organizational applications. The training will also review best practices for behaviors necessary for the cultural changes required.

“CQI-14 provides a number of best practices and tools that allow an organization to better manage their warranty process,” explains Dave Sakata, vice president of technology at Freudenberg-NOK and leader of the AIAG Consumer-Centric Warranty Management Work Group. “The new training program will help these organizations, especially senior management and the cross functional teams that would apply these tools, to better understand how to actually practice what is provided in the guideline.”

Success in managing the warranty risk, he states, is largely dependent on changing the organization’s culture and being truly focused from a consumer’s perspective on reducing the incident risk, as well as prompt, accurate diagnosis and repair when an event does occur. The training by AIAG is a good starting point for implementing this continuous improvement driven process, Sakata adds.

AIAG’s one-day course is recommended for individuals who participate in cross-functional teams and also for anyone wishing to gain a better understanding of root cause methodologies.

For more information on AIAG’s CQI-14 training, contact AIAG at (248) 358-3003 or visit the AIAG website at www.aiag.org.

About The Author

Janice Tucker

Janice Tucker is a member of the OESA Warranty Council and was global director of quality for Cooper, and vice president of quality and environmental for Bosal International North America.