Quality is Job 4.1 at SAS

In an age of high-dollar, high-profile quality problems, software tools designed to help manufacturers cut recall and warranty costs are getting upgraded -- and none too soon.

Business intelligence specialist SAS has upgraded its Warranty Analysis software to help address emerging quality issues more quickly while preserving brand value and customer satisfaction.

SAS Warranty Analysis 4.1 is designed to help its manufacturing customers such as Sub-Zero, Shanghai General Motors and Whirlpool take fuller advantage of the mountains of warranty and quality data collected from sources such as call centers and customer survey, according to the company.

When pricey recalls loom, fast and accurate data sorting can pay huge dividends in cost avoidance. For example, SAS Warranty Analysis 4.1 is designed to comb through hundreds of thousands of potential issues, such as automatically notifying an automotive engineer of an issue with antilock brakes. Then, based on technician comments and other data, the software might determine, for instance, that the problem is warped rotors, from a specific supplier and only when used in hot regions. This type of data sorting allows manufacturers to automate and accelerate the time-consuming process of sifting through thousands of claims to identify the root cause of problems. By integrating text and data analysis with a specialized warranty-focused user interface, this type of software allows manufacturers to take the corrective action more quickly.