CHAPTER 10

Process Analysis: Customer Interface

Customer is the most important visitor to our premises. He is not an interruption to our work. He is the purpose of it.
We are not doing him a favour by serving him.
He is doing us a favour by giving us an opportunity to do so

– Mahatma Gandhi

Customer link

From the SIPOC diagram in Figure 4.1, it can be inferred that a key link of every process in an organisation is the ‘customer’. This link is common to any process, no matter what that process is—gardening, security, transport, canteen, manufacturing, accounting, maintenance, marketing and sales. The customer can be internal (next processes) as well as external (agencies, persons outside the enterprise). All processes may not necessarily have external customers but every process has its internal customer.

Scrutiny of customer needs

Irrespective of the type of customer, it is necessary that the customer link of every process must be subjected to the following scrutiny.

1. Who are the customers of the process?
2. Where are they located?
3. What are their needs? Have they been documented and agreed upon as acceptable to customer?
4. Can the needs be met? How can this be assured and through what means of the process?
5. In processes, where the customer has to be handled and interaction with customer is involved, as in the case of patient care, have work instructions been specified to prevent (may be inadvertent) expensive and tragic errors?
6. How are they being met?
7. Do the process owner and customers meet and review the performance and assess the effectiveness of corrective actions taken?
8. Are there any mandatory requirements to be met? If so, are they complied with?
9. Is there any mechanism to know in advance the emerging needs and expectations; and act upon them?
10. Is there a list of factors critical to quality characteristics and are they used for measuring compliance as per customer requirements?

Customer interface

Systematic scrutiny of existing practices brings to forefront the gaps and deficiencies. Actions to rectify the gaps and deficiencies would clean up the existing procedures and the systems followed. In addition to the issues listed in the previous section, there are other issues of the customer interface that are required to be reviewed. These are listed in Table 10.1 and each one is briefly dealt with.

 

TABLE 10.1 Reference Points of Scrutiny: Customer Interface

Reference point

Culture of concern for customer Respect for customer Customer focus Avoidance of technical hubris Handling of customer complaints Sensitivity to customer discomfort Every error is internal and it hurts customer Cost-effectiveness Profit Customer dissatisfaction and satisfaction Kano’s analysis and delighters Customer trust and confidence Value addition to customer Discovering and knowing customer Customers’ view on new products/services Lead customer Listening to and visiting customer

Culture of concern for customer

There must be a culture of concern for customer in every functional area of an organisation and it must get ingrained in the task of continual improvement. Such a culture can be built only when every employee understands, in an identical manner, certain basic tenets of concern for customer and reflects them in his/her daily work and also ensures that they are built into the procedures and practices specified as work instructions/standard operating procedure. To facilitate this, certain basic tenets of concern for customer are listed here.

Respect for customer There is recognition that the customer is the foundation of a business and keeps it in existence. He/she alone gives employment. To supply the wants and needs of a consumer, society entrusts wealth-producing resources to a business enterprise.

There should not be even a trace of disrespect to the customer. This is also an evidence of customer focus. Every workman of the organisation, right from the top to the cutting edge, recognizes the following and it reflects consistently through his/her work.

1. No tolerance of shoddy work, disorderliness, poor housekeeping, etc. Attending to the customer takes precedence over the domestic issues.
2. Quality improvement impacting customers are the talking points. People behind such successful missions are honoured citizens in the work community.
3. Any discourtesy shown to any customer (vendors included in this case) makes a big news reaching all levels; receives due attention to prevent such incidences from recurring and measures are also taken to mend fences with the wounded customer.

An example:

‘…the audience, the rasikas are what keep me going. It might sound strange, but I actually sense an energy flowing to me from them during a concert… it somehow gives me strength, and encourages me to give my best. I could sing to an empty hall after having learnt all that music—but without the audience it wouldn’t be as satisfying, it is they who elevate it to a near-spiritual experience for me.’

– Sudha Raghunathan, Vocalist par excellence (Chandaraju, 2005)

Customer focus Customer focus is an important strategy of operation in which an enterprise shapes and sharpens its focus on importance of the customer. This is multidimensional and is found across the business activity—right from the vision of the company to the handling of customer complaints through all the decisions concerning investment, choice of technology, product, product-mix, markets to serve, pricing, etc. In this wide spectrum, issues related to quality play a vital role.

Customer focus, for example, in a manufacturing organisation gets transformed as outlined in Table 10.2.

Technical hubris Technical hubris is nothing but the arrogant attitude that the technical superiority of the process, product and/or services alone counts, and all else is secondary. In short, technical hubris is cock-eyed vision to look upon consumers as ignorant and a source of interference. It blocks the free flow of ideas and suggestions from the market, the information on the factors that satisfies customers as well as the ones that irritate them and the knowledge of product performance at the customer end. Hence technical hubris need to be avoided.

One way of arresting technical hubris is to link the work to the customer/beneficiary. A worker afflicted with technical hubris will have no good opinion on work and/or on colleagues. Invariably such a person would be despised by the juniors, neglected by colleagues and if still tolerated, ignored by the top management.

TABLE 10.2 Customer Focus: Transformation

Customer concern	Traditional mode of handling	Transformed mode that reflects customer focus in addition to the traditional one
To buy products and services	Manufacture products and services as per requirements	Customised system to plan and execute customer order System to know the newer needs and requirements of customers, the problems encountered by the customers, and use these online to continually upgrade the products and services Provider of total solutions and not just supplier of products, services and service after sales
Focus on visible mistakes	Focus on invisible mistakes	To supply products and services free from errors, deficiencies, defects, and under-performance is the bare minimum to be ensured and there is nothing great about it To surpass customer expectations To delight the customer To create awe, twinkle, tingle, dazzle, glow and surprise
Products and services that meet requirements	Technology meets the needs. Communication is limited, restricted and confined only to transactions and not relationship building	Make it easy for customers to communicate, complain and seek redressal Build customer relations to strengthen and expand networking to cover designing and development of product as well as problem solving. This is linking every section/function to customer Continual measures to ensure that doing business with the company is more value adding and profitable to the customer. This makes customer’s business more competitive Effective arrangements for communicating with the customers if need to be in the customer-specified format and language (computer-aided design data, electronic data exchange) on issues related to product information, enquiries, contracts, order position, amendments, etc. customer feedback, customer complaints, etc.

In any organisation, justifiable sense of pride can set in leading to the hubris affliction. For example, in an industrial organisation, hubris can be caused by having the latest manufacturing equipment and process, the best technical know-how of the industry, the continued market growth, etc. These can degenerate unintentionally into technical hubris at the organisational level. Hence, such a possible degradation must also be closely watched and set right at the very early stage in each organisation/institution.

Sensitivity to customer discomfort This is a critical factor for those who offer services of various types, mainly repairing. The illustration in Table 10.3 brings out the sensitivity issue.

Repairman is most important to the customer. Customer with a repairman of Type 2 nature, tells about the unpleasant experience to several others known to him and this causes damage to the reputation of the company with repair crew of Type 2 nature. The characteristic feature of a repairman of Type 1 nature is attention to minute details of a job. Company should train people to know the minute details and comply with them.

TABLE 10.3 Illustration: Sensitivity of a Repairman

Type 1	Type 2
Rings the door bell	Knocks the door inspite of the bell being there
Shows the identity card Explains the purpose Waits to be called-in	More eager to enter-in Questioning is needed to know the purpose
Enters after removing footwear	Removes footwear on being ordered
Clears the work area Prepares the work area Attends to repair Removes the debris and dumps in specified place Rearranges the work area as before Gets endorsements on documents, if any	Attends to repair Not concerned with where and how debris fall Eager to get documents endorsed Does not attend to keep the place neat and clean, as it is not his job
Leaves the premises	Leaves the premises

Customer complaints Customer complaints are a veritable source of ideas to improve quality and service. It also helps to set priorities.

Presuming that complaints as fabricated or engineered, sporadic or rare, can be cynical and ruinous to the institution/enterprise itself. Likewise, absence of customer complaints should not be mistaken as defect-free quality and irritant-free customer service. More often than not, it means that customers have turned indifferent towards the organisation due to a sense of helplessness and/or despondency and may have deserted it, or in the worst case waiting for an opportunity to avenge the disappointment suffered.

Therefore, it is worthwhile to get the information on lapses in the quality and service directly from the customer. An aggressive and positive approach also brings forth valuable ideas for improving quality and service. More importantly, make it easy for customers to complain; monitor the complaints; take appropriate measures; verify that they have proved their effectiveness and keep the customers informed of the actions taken. All these make the company a customer-driven company. A flow chart on handling complaints is shown in Figure 10.1.

 

Figure 10.1 Flow chart for handling customer complaints

It is important to recognise a complaint as a complaint. For example, a product quality complaint is generally perceived as a serious complaint whereas an error in invoice is treated as a casual error in typing/data entry/transfer. At present, in computer-based business transactions, the word ‘complaint’ transcends the traditional confines of product and service deficiencies and encompasses correct pronunciation, cultural fit in interaction with customers.

When certain action is proposed, one should verify (a) how the action is linked to the complaint, (b) how the action prevents the cause of occurrence of complaint at its source, (c) verify that it is so, and (d) (a) and (b) are based on data.

Keep a scoreboard on complaints. Review the results and ensure that actions taken are effective and there is no recurrence.

As an organised practice, implement the action found effective in one place to all other places where they are relevant and applicable. This is termed as horizontal deployment.

As another organisational practice, undertake pre-emptive surveys regularly, whereby potential areas of complaints are detected and suitable actions are taken without the need for an event to happen, requiring corrective measures.

Every error is internal and it hurts the customer Traditionally, certain errors are not treated as internal errors. For example, in a manufacturing unit, traditionally the following errors are looked upon as external and not as internal to manufacturing. Actions to remedy these follow once these deficiencies are recognised as “internal” and prevented by the company.

1. Customers can be hurt through errors in documents, especially, invoices. With increased computerisation, reconciliation and rectification are time-consuming and difficult.
2. Improper identification, marking and packaging, and packing materials not meeting pre-treatment requirements.
3. Dispatch to incorrect destination, dispatched quantity less than what is stated in the dispatch document and wrong dispatch.
4. Proper supports, hooks, cushioning in the transport vehicle to prevent damage to products while in transit not being designed.
5. No protection against sun, rain, wind and storm to goods in transit.
6. Not specifying the mode and method of loading and unloading the goods from trucks.

Cost-effectiveness

Cost-effectiveness and cost-control are two different issues. In cost-effectiveness, quality is not compromised. It may not be so in cost-control approach. It is a common experience that cost-control approach normally affects housekeeping standards, focus on ventilation, light and workplace hygiene and packing standards. A customer-focused company is also cost conscious and this consciousness is manifested by being cost-effective. A customer-focused company has its goal as the least cost company in its class. This is achieved without compromising on quality through following measures:

1. Expenditure control, as an activity spanning a wide spectrum is as follows:
   1. Buy at the right price.
   2. Buy from a reliable source.
   3. Buy the required quantity.
   4. Ensure that the quantity bought is not short and is of right quality.
   5. Store the item properly protecting it from rain, water, moisture, dust, rodent, etc.
   6. Preserve them properly without allowing them to get deteriorated.
   7. Avoid using excess amount. Stick to the required specified amount.
2. Price determination route is sale price instead of cost-driven sale price route. These routes are explained in Table 10.4.
3. As stated by Peter F. Drucker, be aware of the following traps.
   1. The worship of high profit margins and of premium pricing.
   2. Closely related to the first is what the market will bear.
   3. The third is cost-driven pricing.
   4. The fourth deadly sin is slaughtering tomorrow’s opportunity on the altar of yesterday.
   5. The last of the deadly sins is feeding problems and starving opportunities.
4. Cost-effectiveness is reflected in every phase of business as depicted in Figure 10.2.

 

TABLE 10.4 Two Approaches to ‘Price’

Cost driven sale price	Sale price driven cost
Whatever is spent is treated as cost and is included to arrive at the selling price	Market determines the selling price. An enterprise cannot sell beyond any price above the market price whatever may be its cost of manufacture
Costs of inefficiencies such as waste, rework, rejection, excess inventory and low utilisations are all included in the cost and passed on to the customer. With this approach an enterprise continues to be inefficient by design	To stay in business, the cost is examined in all its detail; ways and means of minimising the cost to the least level possible to earn profits are examined. Thus, least cost with quality becomes the focal point
Profit in a way turns out to be a subsidy given by the customer to support the inefficiency of the enterprise	Profit is the result of effort and efficiency of the enterprise
Existence is doubtful and more so, the economics of the business also depends on government support/policy	This is a tenable route that ensures maximum ‘profit’ through efficiency and quality to customer
Not customer focused	Customer focused

 

Figure 10.2 Features of cost-effectiveness in operations cycle

“Tata Steel is an excellent example of cost-effectiveness. Tata Steel with its steel production of 5 mtpy (million tons per year) is a minnow-sized company compared to the 18 mtpy steel production of Corus company which it acquired recently. In terms of profitability, Tata is far better by being one of the world’s lowest-cost producers of steel. Hence, the net income of Tata’s on 5.3mtpy stands at Rs. 3800 crores and this is only marginally less than Rs. 3900 crores the net income of Corus on 18.2 mtpy”. (Aiyar, 2006)

Profit

Profit is also a measure of cost-effectiveness. It is important to assess the quality of profit to take suitable corrective actions. Table 10.5 gives data summary to assess quality of profit. An enterprise which earns profit based on efficiency can grow and serve its customers better.

 

TABLE 10.5 Data Summary to Assess Quality of Profit

Customer dissatisfaction and satisfaction

The causes of dissatisfaction and satisfaction and mode of handling customers are given in Table 10.6. The nature of the tasks involved in their handling and the mindset needed are also covered in Table 10.6.

TABLE 10.6 Dissatisfaction and Satisfaction

Particulars	Dissatisfaction	Satisfaction
Cause	Presence of irritants, defects, deficiencies and substandard performance	Presence of features valued by customers; attracting customers
Action needed	Eliminate, minimise	Enhance, maximise
Approach	Control information, data and facts	Empathetic Improving Breakthrough Knowledge and imagination
Tasks involved	Improving by number Zero defect Zero inventory Short cycle Results of playing By-the-rule	Integrating into the product and services Emotional features characterised by the expressions such as passion, fantasy, dazzle, twinkle, delight, tingle, glow and ah!
Mind set	Doing things right	Doing right things
Impact	Increase cost	Increase sales

Kano’s analysis

Kano’s analysis named after Noriaki Kano, a Japanese engineer and consultant, deals with classification of customer requirements into three meaningful entities as given under. Requirements of customer cover the features as well as the performance characteristics.

1. Those features and performance requirements which ensure minimal expectations of the customer are must requirements. These are expected requirements. Customers take it for granted that these features are there and do not even check for them. If customers experience lack of any of these requirements, then they can turn hostile.
2. Those features and performances, which if present, would achieve satisfaction—more the features, more the satisfaction and vice versa—are termed satisfiers. Most day-to-day competitions take place over these factors. Process improvement priorities are likely to concentrate on boosting the satisfiers and capacity to multiply/improve upon satisfiers.
3. Those features and performances which customers do not expect to be there and hence their presence surprises them, delights them. They are termed delighters or exciters.

Delighters We would like to highlight a few points on delighters. A surprise offer like a basket of fruits on arrival at the hotel without any increase in the contracted price may delight the customer at first, but later fails to convince that the delight was free of cost.

However, there are many delighters that are cost-free and these come through several acts of bending backwards to delight a customer. Bending backward is going-out-of-theway to delight a customer. It would be a valuable asset for an organisation to have a dictionary of the acts of bending backward to serve and make that dictionary lingua franca as well as common acts of every employee in the organisation.

A service can also be a source of delight and excitement even when it is priced. For example, a little girl accompanied by her parents visits a departmental store to select a frock for her birthday celebration scheduled for the next day which happens to be a Sunday evening. The little girl selects a frock but insists on having the same type of frills on it as found in another frock. The sales assistant confirms that it can be done; offers to have the frock delivered only on Monday and takes the details including the address. The love for the frock is so much that the child agrees to it. Next day evening at 6 o’clock, the sales assistant is at the door with the altered frock in a gift pack with a birthday card for the little girl and an envelope containing the bill to the father. The child is thrilled, excited and the father happily pays the fat bill. A case of thrill, delight and excitement at a cost which is incurred happily.

Many instances and opportunities of ‘bending backward’ and causing delightment at-a-cost come to pass everyday, especially, in the service business. Often, they are ignored and thus opportunities are missed to build a strong bond with the customers. To prevent such missed opportunities, it would be a good continual improvement project to establish a database on the various types of instances, opportunities of bending backwards to serve and cause excitement and delight at a cost; codify them and specify ground rules for their exploitation.

Delighters as a rule do have a shelf-life. With a lapse of time, delighters cease to be so, instead, they become accepted standards. For example, one-minute photograph was a delighter once. Today, it is a standard to follow. Kano’s analysis helps to get a better idea of what the various features and capabilities mean in terms of one’s customers satisfaction as well as one’s competitive edge.

When in a continual improvement project/problem, customer requirement is involved, the following aspects of requirement need to be considered to define it precisely.

1. Requirement of what?
2. To which segment of customer—distributors, stockists, end-users—the requirement is relevant.
3. Use of available data on customer needs, complaints, comments, etc.
4. Observability and measurement features are a must.
5. Category of the requirement as basic, satisfiers and delighters in order to assign priority for inclusion in the study.

Customer trust and confidence

Trust and confidence have integrity as their basis. Integrity, in the context of products and services, means intellectual integrity to ensure that (a) the products and services offered to the society do not endanger human life and safety, including environmental factors like water (ground water included), air and land (b) the activities involved in the production of products and services do not endanger the human life and safety as well as the environment where the activities take place. It is an integrity that builds quality of confidence in the products and services. This built-in quality of confidence when maintained consistently over the years makes the products and services trust worthy. They have a time dimension as a continual consistent phenomenon.

Hence, continual upgradation in the knowledge, skill and desire of the management is crucial to maintain trust and confidence. There are many companies in India such as TATA, Hindustan lever and TVS which have several decades of reputation of providing goods and services of trust and confidence.

Possessing superior know-how and technology promotes quality of confidence but does not guarantee it. The latter belongs to the realm of integrity. This is evident from the instances of the recent past when companies possessing superior technology did not hesitate to utilise the gaps in specification to the use of water of undesirable quality in soft drinks that they were marketing.

Value addition to customer

Value addition to the customers is essentially the action taken to make the supply of products and services available as a source of economic significance to the customer. It is an exercise to be undertaken by an enterprise on ‘What needs to be done by it to be profitable to its customer?’ For this purpose, note the following.

1. The price the customer pays for the products and services is one aspect of the cost of purchased product.
2. In addition, the customer incurs several costs on the purchased product.
3. Note what these costs are. Examine which of those could be minimised or eliminated.
4. Note what actions are needed to accomplish (3).
5. Present to the customer a ‘cost-benefit analysis report on the actions’ which benefit/improve profitability to the customer.
6. Act on the agreed actions and report the gain to the customer.

Following illustrations explain the approach.

Illustration I Paperwork and handling are involved at the time of receipt, acceptance, inwarding and issue. If the items are supplied directly to where it is used, most of the paper work and handling can be eliminated. Such a supply schedule must be in place.

Illustration II Packing cost is another area where there is a good potential to cause gain to the customer. Examine the possibility of adopting reusable packing containers to eliminate use-throw packings.

Illustration III Examine the operations carried out on the purchased product by the customers and whether those operations can be done by the supplier at reduced cost. If so, shift the operations to the supplier with suitable adjustments in the price.

Illustration IV If the product supplied is like a capital equipment which has to be installed, commissioned and maintained, then note the various points that hurt the user and adopt user-friendly features to facilitate handling, easy accessibility, clear visibility, comfortable ergonomics, etc.

Innovation activity has to be given priority. This is not the same as improvement activity through quality circles and cross-functional teams. Many companies with a good track record of innovation lose their nerve against discounters and copiers. In this process, they lose their initiative and zest to innovate and hence degenerate into commodity mindset or also-ran types. In this context, it should be realised that the secrets stolen are those of yesterday and it does not matter as long as one keeps topping it up continually.

Discovering and knowing customers

A company which claims to know its customers well can come to grief. For example, an equipment manufacturing company was doing its business very well through its network of dealers. The company knew its dealers but not the ultimate customers of its equipment. Unscrupulous practices of a few dealers landed the company in serious problems with a number of customers and this forced the company to quit its business in that product line.

Knowing one’s customer and market is not a one-time job. It is a regular activity. It helps to keep the company alive and healthy by setting its sail in the right direction with appropriate practices.

Knowing the customer is an exercise in finding answers (quantitative) to the following simple questions:

• Who are your customers?
• Where are they?
• What they buy?
• Why they buy?
• How they buy?

Experience has shown that the answers to these simple questions bring in new perspectives on one’s own business and bring appropriate changes in the way the business is organised and conducted.

For example, when cinema was a pure simple entertainment, screening the film and viewing the film were the main focus. Generator as a stand-by supply of power and a tent were adequate to meet the needs of the customers at the start. Today cinema-viewing has to cater to a variety of needs of a customer in addition to viewing the film. Thus, multiplexes have come into being and tent-cinemas have disappeared and theatres are on their way out.

Likewise, hotel industry catering to the general public has forked into two major channels—fast food outlets for those who need a quick meal and restaurants with good ambience of diverse styles for those who want to eat at leisure.

The classical industrial example in India is that of Reliance in textile field. During the years, when general textile market was sluggish and depressed, Reliance under the brand name Vimal flourished because it had addressed itself to find answers to the questions listed earlier.

Consider the following issues to discover projects of relevance to the customers.

1. Where are we failing to meet customer requirements? What do customers complain about most?
2. Where are we lagging behind from our competitors?
3. Where is our market now?
4. What are the new emerging customer needs?
5. What barriers are we having on improving our results through new products, services and penetrating into new locations?
6. What are the major delays in our processes and customer interface?
7. What needs and irritants have been felt by the employees to improve customer interface?

Customers’ view—new products and service

An enterprise must be cautious about the customer opinion/reaction on any new product/ service obtained through market survey. Customers provide yesterday’s solutions to today’s problems. Hence, market survey results are not a replacement for judgement. Taking a leap in imagination to see what customers might want would give important clues and provide a basis for creative experimentation.

Some of the classical examples of industrial products whose history reflects the need for exercising caution and care regarding the views of customers on the new products are:

1. FAX technology, the US developed it and Japan exploited it, because market research in the US had predicted that there was no demand for such a product.
2. Transistor, the US developed it but lost the entire vacuum tube radio market. Reason: informed opinion was that transistor was not yet ready for use in customer products.
3. ‘Post-it’ notepad, the well-known 3M product was thought of as silly as per market studies.
4. Demand forecast for computers was only a few by 2000. The fact is one million were sold by 1965.
5. Xerox machine sales which was estimated to be 70,000 at the start, turned out to be a mere 7000.

To avert the adverse effect of the results of market survey on new products and services, the mindset should be of creating markets that do not even exist.

Lead customer

A lead customer is the one who exhibits most of the following features:

1. Know-how and acceptance of latest process technology.
2. Knowledge about the state-of-the-art and update products and technology close to the state-of-the-art.

Such a lead customer would also be enthusiastic and committed to work on product development, improvement and solving field problems. Hence, it is worthwhile to launch improvement projects with such lead customers.

Listening to customers

Producer of a product/service may be well-informed of the technology employed, design used, processes adopted and methods of assurance of quality to customer. But the customer is the one who has a much longer exposure to products and services during their usage phase and this empowers them to have greater information on difficulties, bottlenecks, troubles and user unfriendliness encountered. Hence, customers know the products and services better than their producers/suppliers.

Therefore, customers are a storehouse of valuable information and this needs to be tapped systematically. Hence, listening to the customers is a must. Encourage customers to come out with their criticism, comments, suggestions and views about the ways things are done in the company. Organise listening sessions in informal settings with participation of personnel from different functional areas of the senior management. These sessions inadvertently should not be converted into business sessions on how to get more orders, price hike, etc.

Regular visits to the places where products are being used are a must. Such visits are primarily to (a) discover the types of wrong-use and misuse (b) know problems in handling, maintaining and unsafe features as seen at points of usage. Again, these visits should not turn out to be business visits for getting more orders.

All the information obtained should be structured, summarised and used to draw up a plan of action to implement the useful points. Progress needs to be reviewed to ensure timely implementation.

Conclusion

The culture of concern for customer established on the basis of the several points discussed in this chapter must manifest itself in defect-free delivery of products and services on time consistently (at all times). Thus, it becomes possible for an organisation to accomplish the following quality rule as a matter of routine.

QUALITY RULE

RIGHT—FIRST-TIME RIGHT—ON-TIME BOTH—EVERY-TIME BY—EVERY-ONE IN—EVERY-JOB

If every process is screened against the parameters of customer concern discussed in this chapter, it will help to clean up and keep each process in a state of achieving real improvement and not just one of restoration to health.

Similarly, any continual improvement project with a focus on customer needs to be linked to the corresponding process and that process needs to be screened against the various parameters of customer concern to find and close the gaps causing defects.