Linking Customer Satisfaction to Product Design: A Key to Success for Volvo
- Publication:
- Quality Management Journal
- Date:
- January 2000
- Issue:
- Volume 7 Issue 1
- Pages:
- pp. 27-38
- Author(s):
- Gustafsson, Anders, Ekdahl, Fredrik, Falk, Kurt, Johnson, Michael
- Organization(s):
- University of Karlstad, Sweden, Linköping University, Sweden, Volvo Car Corporation, Gothenburg, Sweden, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
The copyright of this article is not held by ASQ.
Abstract
[This abstract is based on the authors' abstract. A longer abstract is available on the journal's website]
A framework for bridging the quality-satisfaction gap is applied to recent improvements in quality and satisfaction at Volvo Car Corporation. The framework integrates two leading approaches to improving quality and satisfaction: quality function deployment and customer satisfaction modeling. It is shown how Volvo: monitors customer satisfaction; uses these data to set priorities and improve product designs; and tracks the effects of these changes on subsequent satisfaction. The framework also is used to identify weaknesses in the current process and to suggest improvements. This includes making a complicated translation process more efficient and cost effective.