Note 5 - Warranty

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2017

Notes to Financial Statements

Product Warranty Disclosure [Text Block]

Note

5.

Warranty

The Company provides a standard

one

-year warranty on all systems. For direct sales to end customers, warranty coverage provided is for labor and parts necessary to repair the systems during the warranty period. For sales to distributors, we provide a

14

to

16

month warranty for parts only. The distributor provides the labor to their end customer.

The Company has a direct field service organization in the U.S. Internationally, the Company provides direct service support through its wholly-owned subsidiaries in Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Hong Kong, Japan, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. In several other countries

where it does

not

have a direct presence, the Company provides service through a network of distributors and

third

-party service providers.

After the original warranty period, maintenance and support are offered on a service contract basis or on a time and materials basis. The Company provides for the estimated cost to repair or replace products under warranty at the time of sale. The following table provides the changes in the product warranty accrual for the

three

and

nine

months ended

September 30, 2017

and

2016

(in thousands):

	Three Months Ended						Nine Months Ended
	September 30,						September 30,
	2017			2016			2017			2016
Beginning Balance	$	2,877		$	2,000		$	2,461		$	1,819
Add: Accruals for warranties issued during the period		959			1,202			5,038			3,634
Less: Warranty related expenses during the period		(896	)		(1,102	)		(4,559	)		(3,353	)
Ending Balance	$	2,940		$	2,100		$	2,940		$	2,100