USE* engineers working with a prestigious household name OEM client began providing SERP support for commercial vehicle programmes in January this year. Over the past few months the team has developed and implemented new processes which have already proved their worth in a number of different ways. Alongside this a quantity of work which could not have been managed without USE* experience has been delivered.

SERP (Service Evaluation and Repair Process) support comprises routine serviceability assessment of emerging vehicle designs using digital 3D CAD tools months or years in advance of prototype availability. Using SERP methods, design improvements can be quantified in terms of improved cost of owneship value and avoided warranty expenditure.

Important innovations have included prioritising damageability checks at early stages of a programme (due to the Cost of Ownership implications of low speed impact) and rigorous planning prior to commencing work on a programme in order to map a strategy to best cope with the wide array of possible vehicle variants.

Tracked warranty avoidance benefit from these services to date is running well in excess of £6 million.