Analytics Turns Service Repair Data Into Cost Savings

American Honda Motor Co., Inc. uses SAS to improve warranty claims and forecast usage for parts and services.

When a car or truck owner brings a vehicle into an Acura or Honda dealership in the US, there’s more to the visit than a repair or a service check.

During each visit, the service technicians generate data on the repairs, including any warranty claims to American Honda Motor Co., Inc., that feed directly into its database. This includes what type of work was performed, what the customer paid, service advisor comments, and many other data points.

Now, multiply this process by dozens of visits a day at over 1,200 dealerships nationwide, and it’s clear – American Honda has big data. It’s up to people like Kendrick Kau, Assistant Manager of American Honda’s Advanced Analytics group, to draw insights from this data and turn it into a useful asset.

EXAMINING WARRANTY DATA TO MAKE MAINTENANCE MORE EFFICIENT

Like any other major automobile distributor, American Honda works with a network of dealerships that perform warrantied repair work on its vehicles. This can be a significant cost for the company, so American Honda uses analytics to make sure that warranty claims are complete and accurate upon submission.

In the case of warranty claims, Kau’s team helps empower dealers to understand the appropriate warranty processes by providing them with useful information via an online report. To support a goal of reducing inappropriate warranty costs, Kau and his team must sift through information on repairs, parts, customers and other details. They chose a visual approach to business intelligence and analytics, powered by SAS, to identify cost reduction opportunities.