Page 72 - Six Sigma Demystified

Chapter 3 f o c u s i n g t h e d e p loy m e n t 53

A new organizational structure results, where commitment toward the cus-
tomer is shared across the organization. There still may be a sales force, but they
no longer need (or want) exclusive rights to communicate with customers.
(Note that the same can be said of the relationship between suppliers and pur-
chasing agents.) As the customer becomes a more critical element of each
employee’s responsibilities, the relationship between the organization and the
customer becomes more of a shared partnership with mutual benefits.
These real- time data at the point of delivery provide immediate feedback,
which empowered employees can act on. While this is both necessary and use-
ful, it is not sufficient. Some customers may not be open to sharing information.
When the end user is several layers down in the supply chain, or when products
are held in inventory, dissatisfaction may not be realized until much later, remov-
ing possibilities for immediate notification and remedy. Fortunately, additional
sources of customer data are available, with varying degrees of usefulness.
Nonconformance reports or complaints are a typical source of customer
feedback; however, they often include only a small percentage of all problems.
Many problems go unreported. Since the complaints are generally only com-
municated based on a failure to meet basic customer expectations, they are at
most useful for moving to basic or expected quality levels. For some organiza-
tions, particularly those at the 3s level, this is a worthwhile and necessary place
to start. These problems cannot be ignored, and their significance to the cus-
tomer is highlighted by their insistence on reporting them. Prompt analysis of
these reports and resulting action sends an important message to the customer.
Studies have shown that when customers are made aware of these corrective
actions, they tend to become more loyal customers despite the initial incident.
When analysis indicates systematic deficiencies, these must be addressed, either

through management policy changes or through process improvement using
Six Sigma projects. These persistent problems will undermine even the best
attempts at problem resolution.
In many cases, broader, more immediate feedback of customer experiences
is obtained using simple phone surveys of a random sample of recent customers.
More detailed information may be gathered using the critical- ncident tech-
i
niques described by Pyzdek and Keller (2009). The aim is to define moments
of truth in customer terms and qualify key customer perceptions. Even custom-
ers who may not take the time to complain may be willing to provide quick
feedback in this manner.
Customer surveys provide a useful means for collecting a fair amount of
broad- based information. Information gathered from the phone surveys,