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Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Six Sigma Meets Customer Needs

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By Craig Calviln

During the identification of the scope of an internal process project, it is important that the Six Sigma implementation does not interfere with what the actual customer requirements are. While Six Sigma training uses tools to measure customer needs and expectations, the assurance that customer's needs are met is imperative.

VOC, the voice of the customer tools, are used to insure that the customer needs are met by the business process improvement. The certification process of Six Sigma makes attention to the customer a top priority by isolating potential customer improvements by how they affect customer satisfaction. The past assumptions can not be used as a base for the VOC. The Six Sigma program continuously ifentifies data which is mined from customer surveys, comments and complaints to determine the customer's current wants. Then the data is studied and a plan for measuring success is defined.

It is important to keep priorities in order as the business identifies customer expectations and business expectations, comparing them to determine where they are not aligned. The Six Sigma discipline is focused on customer satisfaction, and addresses the issue by focusing on measuring and eliminating defects in the controlling the process. Even though a VOC defect will not affect the voice of the process, it should be addressed anyway, as that will only make the process stronger, ultimately leading to success.

If there is a gap between customer requirements and business ability to deliver, don't eliminate the any possibility that exists to negotiate a feasible requirement. Fulfilling the customers product specifications means nothing if the product has not been delivered on time, just as a timely delivery of substandard product will cause the customer to fulfill needs elsewhere. Six Sigma training offers tools to define the problem, measure customer satisfaction, analyze the root causes of dissatisfaction, improve the process and control the methods. Prioritize customer requirements by identifying basic requirements, or the minimum expectations of the customer. Next, variable requirements incorporate expanding on the basic requirements of the customers needs with greater specificity by identifying core competitive requirements for customer satisfaction. And finally, latent requirements are those value added features that exceed stated customer needs but can reinforce the companys status as the preferred vendor.

It is a fact that customer needs can change quickly and frequently. By ignoring that fact in the initial planning stages will cause an increase in variations. Variations will cause problems in the long term, and by anticipating customer requirements allows the directionof the course of action to be controlled. Ongoing review of customer satisfaction should be an integral part of your Six Sigma implementation process.

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