Due to our digitized business environment, our methods of enhancing customer satisfaction have changed considerably. Profit margins in the manufacturing sector had been shrinking due to cost of good will and highly competitive environments. With some out-of-the-box thinking on how to reduce expenses through warranty functions, the sector has been able to revive itself—while either maintaining, or improving good will.
Basic Manufacturing Needs Today
Most importantly, the digitized environment imposes a demand to simplify complex business processes like warranty claims. Today, businesses around the world no longer concentrate on just sales; rather, they adopt best practices to turn the aftersales experience into true customer delight.
A claim management system should be able to tackle issues arising out of great volumes. Tedious claims-related tasks can be addressed effectively if we could compare benchmark data against the on-going production data.
This can be effectively achieved only if we deploy an intelligent and automated claim management system throughout the entire production system. The software will enhance traceability of the final product back to its manufacturing life cycle. This implies enormous amounts of data. To capitalize on this data, effective capture points in the manufacturing system needs to be defined and capturing devices placed.
Manufacturers should be able to measure real-time data and make better decisions. Lower liabilities will be a helpful factor. That is where automated claims management is a must-have.
A system should help make accurate studies of core problems related to every complaint, and thus alter future failure chances through effective analysis. A system should not only shorten the claim reaction time, but also help process revalidation and enhancements. Thus, employees will be motivated to drive out waste from the system and incorporate best practices in manufacturing processes. It will also save ample time—generally wasted in pin-pointing real problems.
Implementation
The implementation of such a software system can be throughout any major industry vertical, even if it involves legacy systems. The huge amount of data churned out every second can be stored in cloud domains and the same can be retrieved as and when required. When a customer makes a claim, or when a claim is traced back to the OEM, the product can be identified by its batch number, traced using RFID, and thus made to provide the necessary information on critical parameters in no time.
The same may be matched with reference data and other historical data to aid the decision-making process. Customized algorithms may be developed for different organizations to suit their business processes. Endless market factors, research constants, variables, and live feeds may be incorporated into the source code. The software may also be programed to give final verdict on the legitimacy of claims with exceptions. This is likely to reduce the cost of hiring skilled manpower, thus widening the profit margin.
Better Claims Management
The multi-dimensional aspect of a claims management system saves time for the vast aftersales force on field. The customer may lodge a claim via a web-based app—by just entering the batch number of the product and selecting the nature of problem from a dropdown. It is necessary to make information available passed to the manufacturer, who can then pull reference data from the cloud, and records his analysis in no time. If the outcome of the analysis points towards a spare part being replaced, it can be done at once by the aftersales force, without any time being wasted.