Post-delivery warranty claim resolution and vendor defect chargebacks are falling through the cracks because Operations views it as client services and Sales views it as plant operations. Nobody wants to own warranty recovery. How do we place this seat on the Accountability Chart without forcing it on someone who will neglect it?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

When a vital function is orphaned because no department wants the administrative burden, it is almost always trapped in the gray space between functional departments. You cannot solve this problem by making it a shared responsibility. In EOS, when two people own an outcome, nobody owns it.

Take this issue directly into the IDS portion of your leadership team Level 10 Meeting. Begin by drafting the five core roles of this orphaned seat. For warranty recovery, those roles typically include:
- Warranty intake triage
- Root-cause defect analysis
- Vendor chargeback recovery
- Customer credit authorization
- Supplier SLA enforcement

Next, evaluate which major operational function naturally houses that accountability. Warranty recovery protects gross margin and enforces supplier contracts, which directly touches plant operations or finance. Decide which existing leadership seat must hold ultimate ownership on the top-level Accountability Chart.

If existing team members lack the desire or capacity, look at temporary assignment with clear metrics. One leader must own the seat today, even as an interim responsibility. Hold them accountable on the weekly Scorecard for a specific measurable, such as net recovered warranty dollars or resolution cycle time.

If the workload is substantial, group several neglected compliance and vendor-recovery functions into a dedicated Vendor Quality seat, then hire or automate execution. What you cannot do is allow a vital operational seat to remain blank while cash leaks out of the business.