FORECASTING AUTOMOBILE WARRANTY PERFORMANCE IN PRESENCE OF ‘MATURING DATA’ PHENOMENA USING MULTILAYER PERCEPTRON NEURAL NETWORK

1. Introduction An automobile with over 7000 parts is a highly complex product. In spite of employing the best quality and reliability practices during product development, manufacturing, and assembly, unexpected failures during warranty period do occur and cost automobile companies billions of dollars annually in warranty alone. Warranty cost reduction programs in these companies thus receive a high priority. Various teams work together to achieve objectively defined targets for warranty cost…