At 11:00 PM 6/30/2003 -0400, Jim Donohue wrote: >Note however that, unless you are in the Xerox situation, you don't really >want to minimize life cycle cost. What you want to do is minimize the >manufacturing costs and the warranty costs. It is very likely that failures >after the warranty period are a large profit center. When is the last time >you heard of someone minimizing a large profit center? Exactly. And while the manufacturer may receive extra "profit" from the post warranty repairs, they will do so on the lost profit of future sales. An old axiom in sales is "A happy customer tells one other person, an unhappy customer tells ten." Will I buy Raytheon/Raymarine again? Not very likely. Will I warn others about Raytheon/Raymarine. I already did. How many people read TWL? Your point, and my experience, is exactly why US companies are falling behind in the global market. We have advanced technology and superior engineers, (although we're starting to fall behind in that area as well) but the corporate bean counters insist on performance for this quarter's numbers, not on the future. Thus, the future will be lost. Jim & Jan McCorison M/V Maqana currently at Van Isle Marina, Tsehum Harbor, Sidney, BC, Canada