Panasonic has announced that, following the completion of its acquisition of Sanyo Corporation on January 1, 2012 a new projector business unit has been formed. This now integrates R&D, engineering, manufacturing, product planning and marketing bringing to market, says the company, a stronger product range that better meets the needs of customers. With the establishment of this new business unit Panasonic will cease production of Sanyo branded projectors at the end of March 2012.
Panasonic also committed that all Sanyo branded products will continue to carry the standard manufacturer warranty even if they are sold after the Sanyo brand is officially withdrawn from the market on 31 March 2012. Arrangements are being made within the Panasonic group to ensure that all Sanyo warranties are provisioned and supported in the future. End-users who experience any problem with their Sanyo branded products during the warranty period are asked to refer to their original supplier for advice.
Separately, Panasonic announced its new customer service initiatives to enhance after-sales support for customers throughout Europe. Professional displays customers can opt for on-site repair and under the new Global Support Initiative, Global Account Customers, who are expanding their business globally such as system integrators and rental companies, can now have their projectors serviced in 43 countries upon registration on Panasonic’s web-based system, PASS*, regardless of where they were installed. In addition, standard warranties have been extended to cover Central and Eastern Europe.
The opening of Panasonic’s European Service Centre in Cardiff in 2006 saw the company cut its repairs turnaround time down to two days as all spare parts were now kept in one location and communication between in-house engineers and Panasonic factories was improved. As a result, in 2010 in Horizon2’s independent survey, Panasonic notes that it was voted number one for its warranty programme, call centre service (in terms of quality of support and foreign language skills), and onsite engineer support.
To further improve its after-sales care, the company has extended its warranty to include Poland, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Slovenia. Customers in all these countries will have a 3-year warranty on Panasonic displays and projectors, 5-day turnaround (for repairs) and the option of a 2-year warranty extension.
Following what Panasonic describes as the success of on-site repairs for large displays, from April 2012 LCD and plasma display customers throughout Europe will also be able to have repairs carried out on-site with engineers aiming to reach customers within two days.
In addition, Global Account Customers are now able to put their projectors in for service in any of the 43 countries included in the programme. Panasonic’s standard promise guarantees a standard service agreement of 3-year repair on any unit and three months for the lamp. This new programme is activated with the Panasonic PASS* registration system.
“We are always looking for ways to improve customer service and with these three new initiatives we are confident that our award-winning repairs and support process will work more efficiently than ever”, said Donald Maidment, European service manager Panasonic (pictured).
