Warranty Management and Product Development Councils Hold Joint Meeting
Greg Janicki, OESA
On Dec. 8, 2011, the OESA Warranty Management and Product Development Councils held a joint meeting to discuss issues of common concern. The meeting featured presentations from OEMs and industry experts.
James Bruin, manager, warranty, Mopar SQ, supplier quality operations, purchasing and SQ, Chrysler Group LLC, kicked off the meeting by leading a discussion on how Chrysler can increase the use of CQI-14, Consumer Centric Warranty Management guidelines with suppliers. [Note: For more information on the CQI-14, Consumer-Centric Warranty Management: Guideline for Industry Best Practices, please visit http:// www.aiag.org.] Chrysler requires the CQI-14 self-assessment for its audit and is very eager to get more suppliers to deploy the process. As a follow up, OESA and Chrysler agreed to continue to find ways to increase the process usage through the supply base.
Joe Langley, senior analyst, North American Forecasts, LMC Automotive, provided an industry outlook. Langley noted that the short-term outlook is positive despite economic concerns with factors such as vehicle age, used vehicle pricing and stock, scrappage and improved export opportunities driving long-term growth. LMC is forecasting a 13.8 million production market for North America in 2012, growing to 16.5 million by 2016.
Following lunch, Dave Sakata, vice president, technology, Freudenberg-NOK, presented on Integrating Warranty Risk Management in the Product Development Process (APQP). Sakata shared insight on the how Freudenberg-NOK instills a process of proactive quality management in its product development process.
Carrie Majeske, manager, product sustainability planning and strategy, Ford Motor Company, then spoke about Ford’s product sustainability priorities with a focus on the technology innovation pillars of “Green, Safe, Smart and Quality.” Majeske also highlighted some of Ford’s activities in sustainable materials, such as natural fibers, bio-based resins and soy.
Finally, the member roundtable provided an opportunity for council members to discuss critical issues facing their companies. Topics included the challenges of size and weight reduction targets on product development and the efforts of supplies to give visibility to warranty issues to other organization functions, such as product development and sales.
The Warranty Management Council and Product Development Council are open to senior executives or functional managers from OESA regular member companies responsible for warranty or the warranty process (Warranty Management); and managing or overseeing engineering, product development, innovation or new technology activities (Product Development). For more information regarding Warranty Management Council, contact Greg Janicki at 248.952.6401 ext. 245 or gjanicki@oesa.org. For information regarding the Product Development Council, contact Mike Shapiro at 248.952.6401 ext. 246 or mshapiro@oesa.org.