Warranty Guarantees

6 Months Ended

May 03, 2013

Warranty Guarantees

The company’s products are warranted to ensure customer confidence in design, workmanship, and overall quality. Warranty coverage is for specified periods of time and on select products’ hours of usage, and generally covers parts, labor, and other expenses for non-maintenance repairs. Warranty coverage generally does not cover operator abuse or improper use. An authorized company distributor or dealer must perform warranty work. Distributors and dealers submit claims for warranty reimbursement and are credited for the cost of repairs, labor, and other expenses as long as the repairs meet prescribed standards. Warranty expense is accrued at the time of sale based on the estimated number of products under warranty, historical average costs incurred to service warranty claims, the trend in the historical ratio of claims to sales, the historical length of time between the sale and resulting warranty claim, and other minor factors. Special warranty reserves are also accrued for major rework campaigns. The company sells extended warranty coverage on select products for a prescribed period after the factory warranty period expires.

Warranty provisions, claims, changes in estimates, and additions from acquisitions for the first six months of fiscal 2013 and 2012 were as follows:

	Six Months Ended
	May 3,			May 4,
(Dollars in thousands)	2013			2012
Beginning balance	$	69,848		$	62,730
Warranty provisions	23,478			22,263
Warranty claims	(14,651		)	(13,573		)
Changes in estimates	(579		)	1,461
Additions from acquisitions	—			200
Ending balance	$	78,096		$	73,081