Mitsubishi Caterpillar Forklift America Lauds 4CS iWarranty Rollout and Dealer...

EAST MOLINE, Ill., PRNewswire/ -- 4CS, Inc., a leading provider of intelligent warranty software applications, today proudly announces Mitsubishi Caterpillar Forklift America (MCFA) is pleased to share benefits gained by rolling out iWarranty software suite on a production basis to its dealers and customers last month. Their initial rollout included iWarranty eClaim, Parts Return and Warranty Analytics/Reporting modules.

Dealers responded very positively with Kevin Krakora, MCFA Director of Product Marketing and Services noting "We did not expect that iWarranty would be so easy to learn for the dealers. Some were unable to attend our brief training sessions yet they picked it up very quickly. They are very happy with daily payment vs. weekly. One of our major pilot customers shared they wished they had iWarranty." Doug Hoffman, MCFA Warranty Manager, shared: "Our dealers love it as it is much faster than the old system. They like the fact they can attach pictures and third party invoices as well as easily look up warranty coverages, history, serial number details on forklifts, truck capacities and product support bulletins (campaigns)."

"Our management team and Warranty Analysts are impressed by iWarranty's capabilities" commented Kevin, "We expected it would improve our accuracy and validating but we did not expect it to provide the greater validation capability that it does nor have the flexibility and power of the rules engine that it has without being complex. Our Warranty Analysts have found they can easily add, change and adjust validation rules. And, as noted earlier, it was easier for our dealers to learn than we expected." "It eliminated so much manual processing and calls to dealers for additional information" noted Doug. "Our Analysts can concentrate on the failure description story on fewer exception claims and no longer have to worry about the claim meeting the basic warranty parameters as iWarranty checks that. There is immediate access to claims history and a much more efficient claim flow. We are no longer printing our 700,000 pieces of paper to assist us in claim review. Two warranty positions have been freed up for more value added functions."

"Claim data integrity was much improved with iWarranty and it certainly brought to light the data integrity shortcomings of our old system. Significantly improved failure description will help us drive truck quality improvement. iWarranty parts return management application has made it a lot easier to control the return of failed parts. Some of our dealers used to automatically return all their failed parts; now they realize they can only do so if they receive notification through iWarranty" stated Doug.

"One of the major reasons we selected 4CS was due to their vast warranty experience and that proved to be a difference maker as their personnel knew and understood the detailed warranty processes. The knowledge of and experience with warranty processes exhibited by Business Analyst Elaine Lombardi and Data Base Analyst Glenna Schroeder helped our implementation immensely. At first, I thought Elaine was quiet but I soon realized she was listening and learning our business." Kevin commented. "Elaine was my 'go to' person when I needed to gain a clear understanding of a warranty issue; she knows the warranty business and she put it in terms I could relate to" stated Doug.

"All new systems projects have their challenges; but our MCFA team felt our iWarranty project went smoother than any other systems implementation we have done" stated Kevin. "We are implementing iWarranty with our subsidiary, Fleet Management Services, and are discussing it with our parent company in Japan as well"

"It is a pleasure to serve professionals like the MCFA group that are dedicated to driving excellence in customer support, forklift quality and services to make their customers immensely successful. Our responsibility is to provide them the tools and services that will enable them to more fully utilize warranty as a marketing edge - enabling MCFA to utilize iWarranty as the tool to adapt policies and services quickly - so that they may outdistance their competition. Kevin recently shared his comments on iWarranty at the recent Warranty Chain Management Conference in Tampa." commented Gene Weber, 4CS Senior Warranty Consultant.

Mitsubishi Caterpillar Forklift America Inc ("MCFA"), headquartered in Houston, Texas manufactures Mitsubishi forklift trucks and Caterpillar lift trucks. MCFA is ISO 9001-2000 certified and has obtained compliance certification from the California Air Resources Board (CARB). MCFA is home to more than 900 employees dedicated to becoming the premier producer of superior quality forklifts. MCFA provides a full line of forklifts with complete sales and product support through more than 600 dealer locations throughout the United States, Canada and Latin America.

4CS is a leading provider of warranty software solutions. 4CS iWarranty software helps reduce the warranty cost of the products significantly by improving the quality and reliability of the products, sharing the cost and information with suppliers and business partners along with automating the warranty management processes.

The iWarranty product directly connects manufacturers, suppliers, dealers, partners and customers in a service network. It optimizes the entire warranty cycle through the integration of the following applications: Claim Submittal, Claim Processing, Claim Review & Payment, Parts Return, Supplier Warranty, Purchased Warranty, Warranty Analytics, and Warranty Center.