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Warranty
 12 Months Ended
Jan. 31, 2012
Commitments/Contingencies/Warranty [Abstract]  
Warranty

10. Warranty

The Company provides a warranty against all substantial defects in material and workmanship. In 2005 the Company extended its standard warranty from five years to 10 years. The Company’s warranty is not a guarantee of service life, which depends upon events outside the Company’s control and may be different from the warranty period. The Company accrues an estimate of its exposure to warranty claims based upon both product sales data, and an analysis of actual warranty claims incurred. Warranty expense increased during 2010 and 2011 due to the Company’s decision to replace a component on a certain style of chair. These replacements were completed during 2011 at a cost less than originally anticipated as the Company was able to perform field repairs at a favorable cost rather than incurring replacement costs. The repair / replacement of this component was not related to the safety of the product and has no exposure relating to product liability reserves. At the current time, management cannot reasonably determine whether warranty claims for the upcoming fiscal year will be less than, equal to, or greater than warranty claims incurred in 2011. The following is a summary of the Company’s warranty-claim activity during 2011 and 2010.

 

                 
    January 31,  

(In thousands)

   2012     2011  

Beginning balance

   $ 2,300     $ 1,675  

Provision

     (64 )     1,519  

Costs incurred

     (836 )      (894 ) 
   

 

 

    

 

 

  

Ending balance

   $ 1,400     $ 2,300