A cost–benefit model for production vehicle testing

A cost–benefit model for production vehicle testing

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Article ID: iaor2002743
Country: United States
Volume: 30
Issue: 12
Start Page Number: 1153
End Page Number: 1160
Publication Date: Dec 1998
Journal: IIE Transactions
Authors: ,
Keywords: cost benefit analysis
Abstract:

In 1995 a record 17.8 million vehicles were recalled in the USA. In addition to these recalls, warranty costs for non-recallable defects, and the cost of lost future sales due to dissatisfied customers, contribute to the cost associated with poor quality. Although pre-production testing has more leverage, post-launch vehicle testing may provide valuable information in an economical fashion. By field testing the first production vehicles off the line, automotive manufacturers may detect manufacturing-related and component-interaction defects that would not be discovered by pre-production testing. We present a cost–benefit model for production vehicle field testing. Using data on defects and warranty costs for past vehicle programs, we can estimate the average warranty cost, the likelihood of a recall, the number of vehicles recalled, failure rates, and severity of defects for future vehicle programs, as well as the warranty costs avoided by a particular production vehicle test program. This cost–benefit analysis allows us to determine if a post-production vehicle test program is worthwhile, and if so, it allows us to choose the best such program.

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