Page 66 - Six Sigma Demystified

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c h a p t e r

Focusing the

Deployment

Customer Focus

Customer expectations must be evaluated continually, often for the simple
reason that customer needs change over time. In many cases, internal estimates
of customer needs do not align directly with actual customer needs. It is not
uncommon to discover that many long- held assumptions regarding customer
needs are simply wrong. Cost savings and improvement of customer relations
are realized through a proper understanding of actual customer needs and
wants. Where internal estimates do not match customer realities, Six Sigma

projects even may result in a widening of the internal specifications, reducing
operational costs as well as complaints about late deliveries. All aspects of the
customer experience (the value stream) should be considered, including design,
use, delivery, billing, and so on, not just the obvious operational processes that
constitute revenue generation.
In many business- to- business (B2B) transactions, customers express their
requirements by stating a desired nominal, or target, value and an upper and/or
lower specification. The upper and lower specifications provide the maximum
and minimum values (respectively) that will be tolerated in any given instance
of product or service delivery. For example, a part may have a nominal length
of 2 inches, with an upper specification of 2.005 inches and a lower specifica-

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