Dramatic F-53 Warranty Improvement
2/17/2006
DCP SUCCESSFULLY GAINS ACCESS TO THE ANALYTICAL WARRANTY SYSTEM (AWS)
DETROIT, MI – Detroit Chassis LLC, an automotive manufacturing company of niche vehicles and RV chassis, announced today that it successfully gained access to Ford’s Analytical Warranty System (AWS) which has assisted DCP in better understanding warranty data.
For the first five years of producing the F53 Chassis, DCP had to rely on its resident engineer to obtain warranty data from other Ford facilities. Sometimes the data was obtained and sometimes they were not successful collecting data prior to meeting deadlines. They developed teams in an effort to gain control of warranty concerns but with inconsistency in retrieving the data and also a lack of understanding of the warranty data, the teams diminished. They were unable to produce, understand and speak to the data in warranty charts presented.
Quarterly Vehicle Quality Reviews (VQRs) were conducted with DCP’s #1 customer, Ken Macfarlane, Director of Manufacturing Operations - Truck, who would depart with frustration due to DCP’s lack of knowledge of the Analytical Warranty System (AWS).
On 10.28.04, DCP set out to obtain the Analytical Warranty System (AWS).
Dee Dee Hankton, Quality Engineer was selected to complete “The Fundamentals of Warranty – Web Based Training” at Ford’s North American Education Training & Development Center on 11.04.04, DCP was awarded access to AWS. DCP continued with the “Introduction To Warranty Analysis” and was certified on 02.07.05. DCP received great support from the Product Development Center in enhancing software utilization.
Thank you Gail Kwaitkowski for all of your assistance. Look at what we can do now!
Weekly warranty meetings are conducted to determine responsibility and corrective action for each concern. Monthly Balance Score Card meeting attendees produce, analyze and speak to the data in warranty charts presented.
Ask DCP the meaning of CCC, VFG, VRT, CC, CPU, R/1000, just to name a few and you will hear the right response.
On 05.03.05 DCP was notified of the upcoming quarterly VQR. DCP along with its resident engineer worked long hours for the entire month preparing for the VQR. They were determined that the previous VQR was the last time that they would see that frustrated face from their #1 customer. On 06.03.05, DCP held the quarterly VQR. Upon completion of the VQR, the executive staff was asked for feedback. Darin Burns, Program Manager quoted: “This is the first time that DCP has been able to not only develop their charts but also to understand and speak to the charts.” Darin commended DCP on its presentation and Ken Macfarlane’s frustrated face was not so frustrated. Ken was pleased to see the improvement in DCPs warranty process and looked forward to continuous improvement.
DeeDee Hankton began the start of this journey and has since trained other DCP employees in software utilization. The warranty process is now in the hands of Fabian Hill, Engineering Change Specialist. Bill Kirchmeier could not have chosen a better person to see the warranty process through.
“We experienced dramatic progress from MY03 to MY04 and we continued to get better from MY04 to MY06 with an improvement of 12.5%. Our focus is strong and we are making strides in reducing warranty cost. We are trending positively and on our way toward our target in both (1) and (3) months in service (MIS).” Stated Carlton Guthrie, Co-Chairman.
Hilda (Dee Dee) Hankton
Contact: Linda Ratliff, 313-571-2100 x 506, lratliff@detroitchassis.com