ASTON MARTIN CLIENT SERVICES

SERVICE POLICY LETTER
Reference number:

SPL-30-1074

Subject:

EPDR submission process

Applicable to:

All Dealers

Distribute to:

After Sales Manager
Executive Manager
Service Manager
Sales Manager

Issued: 20 August, 2018

Warranty Staff
Technician(s)
Parts Staff

This new version of Policy Letter ASPL0360V2 has been issued to update the EPDR (Electronic Product Detail Report)
submission process. Amendments to this document have a black line against them in the left side margin. Please destroy all
previous copies of ASPL0360V2 and replace them with this Service Policy Letter SPL-30-1074.

Dear Colleagues,
To improve our understanding of emerging field problems (called Emerging Issues or EI), we have decided to repeat the
latest status regarding the EPDR submissions. This includes providing guidelines for the submission of EPDRs. This is
aimed at improving our EI data feed to the EI Tracker System.
Note:

EPDR is Aston Martin’s prime Emerging Issues Concern Reporting System and should not be used to
request Technical Assistance.
For Technical Assistance see Policy Letter ASPL0228 which specifically outlines the Technical Service
Request (TSR) Process. Technical Assistance using the TSR Process delivers a response along with any
necessary Manufacturer/Dealer interaction.

EPDR Submission Criteria
1.
2.

An EPDR should be submitted for any issues the Quality team should be made aware of, such as high severity
or high Customer impact issues.
An EPDR should only be submitted when the Root Cause has been identified, this should be included in the
EPDR.

3.

An EPDR should be submitted for product quality concerns only.

4.

An EPDR should be submitted for all roadside recoveries.

5.

An EPDR should be submitted for all paint claims which occur within three Months in Service (MIS).

6.

An EPDR should be submitted for corrosion on any current production vehicles.

7.

An EPDR should be submitted for all new reoccurring concerns.

8.

Where a Diagnostic Trouble Code (DTC) is present it should be reported using the DTC rather than the failed
component description. A list of DTCs can be found under the ‘Electrical’ or ‘Powertrain’ paths, as well as on
the Fault Code Report button.

9.

It is not acceptable to list multiple issues on one EPDR submission. Consequently a separate EPDR should be
raised for each individual issue. Multiple EPDRs can however be quickly and easily entered without having to
re-enter the VIN separately, simply by using the ‘New EPDR - Same VIN’ button. This option is shown after the
‘Submit’ button has been used.

10. The EPDR System is our Emerging Issues Concern Reporting System, so no feedback response should be
expected by Dealers. Solutions to EPDRs are delivered to Dealers by means of: Service Bulletins (SBs), Service
Actions (SAs) and Recall Actions (RAs).
Note:

It is vitally important that we achieve a 100% submission of EPDR for emerging field vehicle concerns.
Please make every effort to ensure that EPDRs are submitted for relevant issues.

20 August, 2018

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SERVICE POLICY LETTER

SPL-30-1074

Attachment Submission
Attachments aid understanding - please add them to an EPDR where appropriate. If you are unable to add attachments
follow the procedure found in Section 3 of the “DCS User Guide – After Sales Communications” to ensure that the
browser is compatible with the Dealer Communication System (DCS). The User Guide can be found in the DCS, under
the “After Sales” menu > “After Sales” tab > “Useful Links”: “DCS User Guide – After Sales”, or by using the link below:
DCS User Guide - After Sales
If you are still unable to attach additional files (logs, videos, photographs, etc.) send them to the email address below.
Reference the EPDR number and VIN in the subject box.
[email protected]

Photographic Presentation
Lighting
Poor, or incorrect, lighting is the usual cause of poor quality photographs. If possible, take the photographs in good,
natural light. If the light is poor (refer to Figure 1) try to use high powered workshop lighting (for example a halogen
lamp). The camera flash can be used as an alternative but it can provide poor results when used for close-up
photographs. If you need to use the camera flash, do not take the photograph too near or the flash will be too bright and
cause the detail in the photograph to be lost (refer to Figure 2). If the camera has an optical zoom function, you can hold
the camera at a longer distance and zoom in. This will help to prevent the flash from being too bright.

Figure 1

Figure 2

Close-ups
When possible, take a photograph from a distance to
show the whole area that the problem is in and its scale.
(refer to Figure 3).

Figure 3

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SERVICE POLICY LETTER

SPL-30-1074

It is very important that the picture is clear and sharp (refer to Figure 4). If it is not focussed correctly (refer to Figure 5)
this is not acceptable. If the camera has a "macro" feature, you should enable this. Some cameras have different picture
modes which are available through a menu system.

Figure 4

Figure 5

Highlights
If it helps to show an applicable problem area, use software to add arrows (refer to Figure 6) or other shapes to highlight
the area concerned (refer to Figure 7 and Figure 8). Reflections can be used to show distortion in a component (refer to
Figure 9).

20 August, 2018

Figure 6

Figure 7

Figure 8

Figure 9
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SERVICE POLICY LETTER

SPL-30-1074

If you have any questions about this Service Policy Letter, please contact the EPDR team at [email protected]
Thank you for your continued support.
Yours faithfully

Steven Tiltman
Client Technical Services Manager

20 August, 2018

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