The term warranty is often symbolic and directly proportional to the customer satisfaction of any brand. When a manufacturer produces a product, a warranty is provided by the manufacturer that caters to any quality or performance issues the customer might face during a certain period. This warranty also takes into account any malfunctions that the product might encounter. From the customer’s perspective, it includes any and every kind of support that can be provided by the manufacturers.
For OEMs, managing warranties can be a tedious task as it has a direct impact on the profitability of the OEM, and their partners and also accounts for improved or declining customer satisfaction. Here, we will talk about warranty management specific to consumer goods manufacturers such as appliances. When managing warranties, a claim is raised to tackle the issues of any product malfunctions or performance issues. For consumer goods OEMs, it is essential to provide a solution that not only manages the warranty claims raised but also the recovery from the suppliers.
Intelli Warranty is an advanced, innovative, and scalable solution developed by Intellinet Systems that caters to this exact need for consumer goods OEMs. With a successful implementation of this solution in the automotive landscape, this solution now provides the same features and benefits to consumer goods OEMs too.
Let us take a deep dive into the features and benefits of this warranty management system and how it can enhance the profitability of consumer goods OEMs.
Efficient Warranty Management for Consumer Goods OEMs
To manage the warranty claims efficiently, consumer goods manufacturers must opt for a solution that enables the management of end-to-end warranties, until supplier recovery. To opt for such a comprehensive warranty management system, manufacturers must ensure the said system is scalable and can manage multiple claim types and ensure the elevation of customer satisfaction.
The system should also have means to capture data at multiple checkpoints to ensure no information is missed and all the data related to the claim is captured efficiently. This system should also act as a centralized system that provides all the data related to every claim. The claim form integrated into the system must be comprehensive enough to capture all necessary details required for claim submission.
In addition to this, the system should also help manufacturers maintain a unique identification for each product, if not already implemented. We must understand that the identification of a product is equally important as the warranty provided. The right product can be identified via a serial number, bar code, etc. The warranty management system should have this feature which would be an add-on on the features already existing.
To ensure that the warranty is maintained properly, a manufacturer lays down certain guidelines and processes which are referred to as warranty policies. These policies provide an in-depth understanding of what is covered under warranty and what is not. For example, any physical damage to a product might not be covered under warranty. For manufacturers to enforce these policies efficiently, the said system should have the capability to add all the warranty policies and if there is any deviation from them, the system should be smart to identify such claims.
One of the major problems that OEMs face is fraudulent claims. In these situations, any claim that does not follow the warranty guidelines and policies or is a duplicate is said to be a fraudulent claim. In such cases, the system should flag these kinds of claims to provide a better visibility into the claim data and what was the reason to flag said claim. These kinds of fraudulent claims are a big setback to any manufacturer as they not only cause losses but also undermine the profitability of the business. The system that is to be implemented should be working on a real-time basis to ensure these claims are flagged and reported.
When managing warranties traditionally, there were multiple challenges that organizations faced but duplicity of data was one thing they weren’t able to solve. In such cases, there were duplicate claims raised with different teams of the manufacturer. In such cases, the claim might be processed twice or may not be processed at all. In both cases, it doesn’t look good on the OEM. To efficiently handle such situations, the implemented warranty management system should be smart to ensure there is no duplication of data.
When scheduling a technician or a service visit, traditionally there would be a lot of paperwork to maintain before and after the service visit. There is a lot of data collected in such cases and the lack of a digital system means there is a chance that this data could be lost or tampered with. Consumer goods manufacturers should choose a system that manages all this and requires little or no human intervention.
Claims processing is also a challenge when handling different types of claims. There are different types of claims that a manufacturer can raise for different situations. In the traditional sense, when raising such types of claims, there were a lot of approvals and constant paperwork required. The chosen system should have the functionality to address these kinds of situations and have a way to raise different claim types.
Processing of claims was a long and cumbersome process for manufacturers. This required a constant to-and-fro with the suppliers and this might require additional evidence for such cases. The warranty management system should have a mechanism to upload images for evidence. The processing of claims should be automated and the allocation of such claims to the teams should be automated too. The longer it takes to process a claim, the more dissatisfied the customer will be. Highly satisfied customers are likely to re-engage with a brand.
Intelli Warranty: Raising the Standards for Warranty Management for Consumer Goods OEMs
An advanced warranty management software, Intelli Warranty streamlines the management of warranty claims and revolutionizes the warranty management process for OEMs. This solution has been helping OEMs achieve greater efficiency by automating and expediting the warranty claims process.
With this system, OEMs can benefit greatly by achieving the utmost efficiency that also reduces the costs of warranty management. Intelli warranty, with its success in the automotive landscape, has proven its efficiency and scalability with a user design that is responsive and improves the user experience. With streamlined claims processing, consumer goods OEMs can achieve higher operational efficiency. The warranty management process can also act as a revenue generator rather than being cost-intensive.
Intelli Warranty has already been extensively used in the automotive space and has given unprecedented results to such automotive OEMs. A part of the suite of aftermarket software, this is an innovative application that makes OEMs automate the entire claim process. With this system, many features make this one of the best applications in the industry today.
Let us now explore these features and see how they help OEMs.
Multiple Claim Types
As we spoke about the different claim types earlier in this blog, Intelli Warranty eases the warranty claims process and provides better protection to OEMs from different types of warranty fraud. Six different types of claims can be generated with ease. These six types of claims are Dealer PDI, OEM PDI, Post-Sale, Campaign, Spare Part, and Goodwill. With these different options, it becomes clear the kind of expertise this system brings for the OEMs. This comprehensive system has evolved into today's offering with many improvisations and innovations.
Integration with ERP Systems
As most of the OEMs today use a solution that acts as a centralized software for all their business needs, the ability for any new application to be integrated with this existing system is of utmost importance. As a futuristic solution, Intelli Warranty can easily be integrated into an organization's existing ERP systems or SAP systems. This integration will ensure both these systems speak to one another and complement each other's operations.
Role-Defined User Access
Intelli Warranty enables OEMs to create multiple users and provide access to them based on their roles. These roles or capabilities can be defined based on the state, dealer, plant, supplier, make or combination of defined items, type of claim, etc. In a nutshell, the roles are defined based on the requirements of users/departments in a claim process. This makes the solution secure and data is protected from unwarranted use.
Work Queue Optimization
With Intelli Warranty, intelligent queue optimization manages the claims seamlessly by assigning them to processors or suppliers which are based on dynamically assigned parameters. The processors are categorized by OEMs based on parameters like designation, geographic area, roles, etc. This is an automated process that streamlines the workflow and ensures that the claim is directed to suitable processors. This process helps enhance overall efficiency.
Return Material Authorization
Intelli Warranty enables an adaptable way to enable OEMs to ask for any casual parts as needed. This solution empowers OEMs to generate Return Material Authorization (RMA) at any time during the post-claim approval. There are diverse methods and predefined rules that guide the RMA integration.
Advanced Policy Administration Attributes
The flexibility to define attributes in the system like coverage definitions, warranty policies, standard repair time, standard labor hours, and more are provided to OEMs with Intelli Warranty. The eligibility and applicability of a claim are automatically defined based on the predefined business rules.
Auto-Generation of Supplier Claim
In traditional, paper-based models, OEMs were required to generate the supplier claims manually for every claim generated by the dealer. Intelli Warranty automated this process and ensures that supplier claims are automatically generated on the approval of every dealer claim.
Interactive Dashboard
Intelli Warranty enhances the user experience as it features interactive dashboards representing KPIs and fusion charts that help users instantly analyze the data.
In addition to these features, Intelli Warranty has an inbuilt mechanism with complete integration with UPS and FedEx services for call tag generation.
Further automation includes barcode packing, generation of invoice lists, scrap note management, commerce list creation, declaration letter processing, third-party address validation, and more. With such innovative and scalable features, Intelli Warranty is a one-stop solution for all warranty claims processing and management needs.
This application does have multiple features that many organizations are looking for in a single system. With such deployment, there would be many positive outcomes that manufacturers would experience.
Let us now delve into the benefits this particular system brings for the OEMs.
Elimination of Warranty Fraud
There are rigorous validation checks that prevent any warranty fraud from happening. This system safeguards your business against any financial losses caused because of illegitimate requests.
Operational Cost is reduced
As this system has minimum manual intervention and eliminates the need to manage anything, the processes are streamlined and costs are reduced. This system also decreases the labor and administrative overhead expenses which improves the allocations of resources and makes the processes cost-efficient.
Human Error is Eliminated
As this system is completely automated and requires no intervention, the errors are eliminated. The errors were a result of everything being managed on paper and thus, an online, digital system eradicates all those errors.
Product Quality is Improved
With Intelli Warranty, there is a lot of data captured at multiple checkpoints. This accumulation of data provides great insights into the processes and ultimately gives information about the quality of the product. If there are multiple claims raised for one particular issue, the OEM can work towards improving the quality of that particular feature.
Enhanced Efficiency
With all these innovative and advanced features, there is a higher degree of streamlining of processes that is achieved. This ultimately improves the efficiency of the teams working towards managing the warranty claims.
Increased Supplier Recovery
The claim generation of the supplier is completely automated and the system is integrated with the ERP systems of the OEMs. This improves the supplier recovery processes which results in maximized recovery amounts and enhances the financial performance of the OEM.
With such amazing, innovative, and advanced features, Intelli Warranty stands way ahead of the competition and has an edge. These features and benefits of this application make it a go-to solution for OEMs. Being a scalable solution, this also offers a growth path as the organization grows further in its journey.
Conclusion: The Solution that Your Business Needs
Automation is the need of the hour and most businesses seek such solutions that help automate their existing processes. After automation, the next most sought-after feature probably is efficiency. This system makes it clear that the warranty management process which was once considered a revenue-draining department, can turn into a profitable one.
As the markets continue to evolve, the situation will always be volatile and will be the center of change. With new technology and disruptions in the industry today, Intelli Warranty is a solution that will enable your business to take on the growth path for years to come. This solution is built to last, scale, and growth with your business.
This solution has enabled OEMs to ensure the warranty claim process works with efficiency and fosters automation with scalability at its core. Talk with us and let us find potential synergies of collaboration for the future!
Do you want to revolutionize warranty management? Book a free demo now to see how Intelli Warranty benefits your business or connect with our experts to learn more about it.
