Custom satisfaction

To ensure customer satisfaction and to maintain the manufacturer s reputation... 

From the standpoint of a military product, system effectiveness is the probabiUty that the system meets successfully an operational demand within a given time when operating under specified conditions. From the standpoint of commercial products, system effectiveness is harder to define, but basically means customer satisfaction. There are several system parameters that are important to the customer. Some of these parameters are defined below. 

A company focusing on quahty control and quahty assurance is often attempting to redefine the corporate culture to reflect quahty improvement and customer satisfaction. It has been estimated that U.S. companies spend from 20—40% of their sales dollars on various forms of waste (56,57). 

Good management practice will hold inventories at the lowest possible levels consistent with customer satisfaction and efficient plant operation. Excessive inventories are unproductive and are an investment having httle or no rate of return. Excessive inventories should be maintained only when supphes are erratic or rising in price. Management should normally aim for a high inventoiy-turnover ratio, as given by ... 

As a leader in fluorine technology, Honeywell Chemicals is committed to safety, customer satisfaction, the development of new technology, and the manufacture and supply of fluorochemicals worldwide. We are proud to be the world s largest producer of hydrofluoric acid and sulfur hexafluoride supplying customers globally. 

To improve customer satisfaction and business competitiveness, companies need to reduce the levels of non-conformance and attendant failure costs associated with poor product design and development. Attention needs to be focused on the quality and reliability of the design as early as possible in the product development process. This can be achieved by understanding the potential for variability in design parameters and the likely failure consequences in order to reduce the overall risk. The effective use of tools and techniques for designing for quality and reliability can provide this necessary understanding to reduce failure costs. 

Like VDA 6.1, AVSQ 94 does not include the requirements of ISO 9001. In this way issues of copyright are overcome, a practice shared by VDA and EAQF but not QS-9000. However, unlike VDA 6.1, AVSQ 94 follows the 20 elements of ISO 9001 with two additional elements, covering financial considerations and product safety. Those questions that go beyond ISO 9001 are marked and as every question is numbered it simplifies the evaluation process. A scoring method is employed to classify organizations in terms of a conformity index. Each question is awarded a point (0, 2.5, 5, 7.5, or 10), where 10 points means full compliance, 7.5 points means minor inadequacies, 5 points means inadequacies in application requiring improvement, 2.5 points means serious inadequacies in application, and 0 points is used for criteria not applied. Unfortunately all questions carry the same weight as no account of the impact of omission on product quality or customer satisfaction is included. 

Goals and objectives to be defined Determination of customer satisfaction Continual improvement Analysis of data... 

Products or services that do not possess the right features and characteristics either by design or by construction are products of poor quality. Those that fail to give customer satisfaction by being uneconomic to use are also products of poor quality, regardless of their conformance to specifications. 

We have only to look at the introductory clauses of ISO 9001 to find that the aim of the requirements is to achieve customer satisfaction by prevention of nonconformities. Hence quality management is a means for planning, organizing, and controlling the prevention of failure. All the tools and techniques that are used in quality management serve to improve our ability to succeed in our pursuit of excellence. 

ISO/TS 16949 is not a set of requirements for producing documentation (as many perceive ISO 9000 to be). It contains requirements that address the key characteristics of a quality system which if not met will put product quality (and consequently customer satisfaction) at risk. 

Has a process been established for determining customer satisfaction ... 

We will comply with NMLs policies and procedures for quality assurance activities. In addition we will develop our own ideas to improve upon NML requirements. We will set quality targets and objectives in line with corporate standards. In support of achieving customer satisfaction we will seek to achieve product conformity by carrying out quality assurance activities at all stages of vehicle manufacture - from planning through to vehicle sales. 

We aim for total customer satisfaction. Customers are those who buy our products our suppliers, our staff, and all people with whom we have contact. We will treat each other with care and respect and strive for excellence in all we do to provide a high level of service to all customers, internal and external. We will thereby provide finished products and services to the highest standards of quality, safety, reliability, and durability. 

The standard requires a documented process for determining customer satisfaction, including the frequency of determination and how objectivity and validity are assured. 

The integrity of your process for determining customer satisfaction is paramount, otherwise you could be misled by the data and believe customers are satisfied when they are not. The process therefore needs to be free from bias, prejudice, and political influence. 

Compute customer satisfaction indices as an aid to measuring change. 

To document this process you should develop a customer satisfaction procedure that details ... 

The methods to be used for computing the customer satisfaction index... 

To determine trends in customer satisfaction and dissatisfaction you will need to make regular surveys and plot the results, preferably by particular attributes or variables. The factors will need to include quality characteristics of the product or service as well as delivery performance and price. The surveys could be linked to your improvement programs so that following a change, and allowing sufficient time for the effect to be observed by the customer, customer feedback data could be secured to indicate the effect of the improvement. 

The note attached to clause 4.1.1.3 needs to be interpreted carefully otherwise you will have every individual setting up systems to monitor their relationship with the people to whom they provide product or information. Everyone needs to be aware of their relationships with others but formal systems are only necessary between organizations. If your organization receives formal orders from other parts of the same company then there may be benefit in treating this as a customer-supplier relationship and monitoring customer satisfaction. 

Defining the quality policy and objectives (clauses 4.1.1.1 and 4.1.1.2) Determining customer satisfaction (clause 4.1.1.3)... 

You can determine this by providing the evidence of customer complaints, market share statistics, competitor statistics, warranty claims, customer satisfaction surveys, etc. 

There are two requirements addressing records of the management review which when combined require firstly that records of management review be maintained and secondly that these records provide as a minimum evidence of the achievement of objectives specified in the quality policy and the business plan and evidence of customer satisfaction with product supplied. 

While the plan itself is not auditable by third parties, it may be auditable by second parties i.e. customers. The third party or registrar is entitled to examine the plan to ascertain that it is what it proclaims to be. The particulars are of no concern except those aspects relating to quality, such as the resources, quality objectives, customer satisfaction plans, and performance metrics. Whatever is stated on these aspects, the auditors will expect to see evidence that the business plan is not merely a wish list and that provisions have been made to enable implementation through the quality system. 

Conduct customer satisfaction surveys to detect whether the quality policy is being maintained. 

How do you determine customer satisfaction and dissatisfaction and where is it recorded ... 

In the service industries, you may need to install new information controls for management to determine whether the services are giving customer satisfaction. This may require new equipment to record, collect, and transmit the data. 

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