Steve Laratta

Another great week here at Supply Chain Now! Have you listened to all the episodes? If not, you can check them all out here: On Monday, Scott and Greg welcomed Mark Messina & Simon Houghton of Geek+ to the podcast!     Scott and Greg also welcomed Mike Griswold from Gartner to SCN Live to talk about all the latest supply chain news.     On Tuesday, Scott and Greg welcome Allison Krache Giddens of Win-Tech, Inc. to the podcast in collaboration with AIAG’s Supply Chain Summit.     Michael Neme joined host Jamin Alvidrez on Logistics & Beyond on Tuesday as well to share his mindset and some of the keys to his passion: Supply Chain Consultative Sales.     On Wednesday, Scott and Greg welcomed Karin Bursa and Jamin Alvidrez for the Supply Chain Buzz, to discuss the top news in supply chain for the week.     Also, Scott and Greg discussed the top news in supply chain with special guest, Guy Courtin of 6 River Systems     On TECHquila Sunrise this Thursday, Greg White welcomed Kinaxis CEO John Sicard to the podcast.     And on Friday, we ended the week with Scott & Greg…

written by Chris Cunnane with InterSystems   Automotive manufacturers have invested billions in digital transformation over the past two decades, achieving meaningful gains in production efficiency. Yet one area has stubbornly lagged behind: warranty cost performance. Despite advances aligned with Industry 4.0, warranty costs as a percentage of revenue have remained largely unchanged. This disconnect highlights a critical truth that while production has evolved, warranty operations have not kept pace. At the heart of the issue is a fundamental inefficiency: time. Specifically, the lag between when a warranty claim is submitted and when meaningful problem-solving begins. This delay not only drives up operational costs but also impacts customer satisfaction and brand perception.   The Hidden Complexity of Warranty Claims Warranty management is more than a back-office function. It is a complex, data-driven process involving multiple stakeholders, systems, and validation steps. Each claim requires verification of warranty coverage, assessment of the issue, and coordination across service providers, suppliers, and internal teams. Much of this process remains manual. Organizations often rely on fragmented systems, inconsistent data formats, and time-intensive validation steps such as reviewing receipts, maintenance records, and warranty agreements. These inefficiencies introduce delays that can stretch into weeks before root cause…