Page 79 - Design for Six Sigma for Service (Six SIGMA Operational Methods)

60 Chapter Four

Secondary Research
The customer information may already exist somewhere, such as in
libraries, government agencies, and, more recently, on the Internet. In
secondary research, the researcher tries to retrieve this information. Data
mining techniques (Berry and Linoff 2000, Edelstein 1999) have been
developed to dig important information from these huge data sources and
gain valuable clues to guide sales and promotion efforts. Data mining is a
process of analyzing data and summarizing it into a useful, informational
format. It is primarily used by companies with a strong customer focus,
such as retail, financial, communication, and marketing organizations. It
enables these companies to determine relationships among internal factors
such as price, product positioning, and staff skills, and external factors
such as economic indicators, competitions, and customer demographics.
Data mining enables companies to determine the impact of these factors on
sales, customer satisfaction, and corporate profitability, and develop
marketing and sales strategies to enhance corporate performance and cut
down on losses.

Direct Measurement
This technique involves direct counting, testing, or measuring of data.
Typical examples of direct measurement are testing cholesterol levels,
monitoring customer arrival times and duration in a service institution,
and recording and counting the type and number of errors in insurance
claims.

Direct Involvement
This technique is practiced by Toyota. The key idea is to ask the product
design leaders to actually play the role of a consumer and practice the
product usage process. One story (Liker 2004) stated that a Japanese design
leader, who had never been to the United States, was assigned to design a
car for the North American market. To overcome his lack of knowledge of
this market, he actually traveled to the United States, rented a car, and drove
through all 50 U.S. states and 13 Canadian provinces to experience the
actual driving and car usage conditions in North America. Because of this
first-hand experience, he made a few very good changes in the car design.

4.1.2 Stages of the Customer Survey
Customer survey research is a well-established area. A step-by-step
procedure is available to guide the whole customer survey process. In this