Connected Customer Experience

The last 18 months have been challenging for most industries, and the automotive industry has been particularly hard hit. A shortage of semiconductors and supply chain chaos led to several manufacturers halting production, while others scaled back and waited for the proverbial dust to settle. McKinsey reports that the industry is accelerating out of the turn on its return to the next normal, but the lessons from the global pandemic won't soon be forgotten.

And that lesson for automotive manufacturers and professionals working in and around the industry is best boiled down to the adage, "the only constant is change." The goal now is to keep our eyes on what's next and prepare for the inevitable fluctuations.

A recap of MAPconnected, A Vehicle Service & Warranty Lifecycle Conference

I had the privilege of moderating the recent MAPConnected Vehicle Lifecycle and Warranty Conference. Being the conference moderator offered several distinct advantages. I observed audience attention and participation during the presentations, plus I had the opportunity to ask the tough questions on everyone’s minds. Here is a short recap of my experience.

The growing importance of Warranty and Service Contracts for Manufacturers

Over the past several decades, durable equipment manufacturers have experienced an evolutionary shift with respect to how they manage service interactions after the original product sale. Manufacturers originally considered the warranty as a necessary cost they had to contend with in order to keep the customer happy, resolve product failures, and obtain critical data required to improve product quality.   Manufacturers no longer view the provision warranty and aftermarket service as a cost of doing business that must be controlled but as an opportunity to add value, obtain critical insights to drive product innovation, and generate incremental revenue and profits.

Many companies still rely on emails, spreadsheets, or custom warranty systems developed long time ago to manage warranty. These warranty systems are inefficient in managing warranty and inadequate to meet the needs of the business to reduce warranty costs and improve product quality.

Over the last two decades, warranty software has been evolving and one can clearly separate this period into three distinct generations of software. Similar to the way the mobile phones have evolved from 2G, 3G and 4G, 2^nd generation of warranty was before 2001, then 3^rd generation was predominantly driven by web, now the Next generation of warranty is being led by confluence of mobile, cloud, and IoT technologies.