Warranty Management and Product Manufacture

D. N. P. Murthy is the Professor of Engineering and Operations Management in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Queensland and a Senior Scientific Advisor to the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. He has held visiting appointments at several universities in the USA, Europe and Asia. His current research interests include various aspects of technology management (new product development, strategic management of technology), operations management (lot sizing, quality, reliability, maintenance), and post-sale support (warranties, service contracts). He has authored or co-authored 15 book chapters, 140 journal papers and 130 conference papers.

Purchasers of manufactured goods need assurance that they will perform well over their expected life. Warranties play a vital role in this. With proper management, warranty terms provide a promise of protection in case of product failure, while warranty service can assure customer satisfaction in the event of a claim.

The authors have developed "Stage-3" warranty management, viewing warranties from a strategic perspective, starting with a strategy linked to technical and commercial planning from the start of product development.

Warranty management aims to achieve business objectives by focusing on product performance assurance and customer satisfaction, the goal of warranty management; guidelines are provided for achieving this goal.

Written by leading experts, this book details current thinking in product manufacture. It will be a valuable guide for managers in product development, production and marketing as well as graduate students in business and operations management and industrial engineering.