Satisfying Customer Needs

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Satisfying Customer Needs

• Target Specifications
• Product Specifications

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Ulrich and EppingersProduct Development Process
Product Development Process
After Ulrich and Eppinger, Exhibit 2-2
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Concept Development Phase (U E)
After Ulrich and Eppinger, Exhibit 2-3
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Concept Development Process
Perform Economic Analysis
Benchmark Competitive Products
Build and Test Models and Prototypes
Target Specs Based on customer needs and
benchmarking
Final Specs Based on selected concept,
feasibility, models, testing, and trade-offs
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The Product Specs Process (UE)

• Set Target Specifications
• Based on customer needs and benchmarks
• Develop metrics for each need
• Set ideal and acceptable values
• Refine Specifications
• Based on selected concept and feasibility testing
• Technical modeling
• Trade-offs are critical
• Reflect on the Results and the Process
• Critical for ongoing improvement

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House of Quality (QFD)
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Target Specifications
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Identifying Customer Needs

• Who is the customer?
• External
• Consumer, purchaser, end-user
• Vendor, supplier
• Internal
• Everyone who touches the product or is touched by
  it

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Identifying Customer Needs

• The process
• Gather raw data from customers
• Interpret raw data in terms of customer needs
• Organize needs into a hierarchy (primary,
  secondary, etc.)
• Establish relative importance of each need
• Reflect on the results and the process

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Kano Diagram
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Expected, Requested, and Surprising Performance
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Establish Hierarchy, Relative Importance
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Project Specification Steps
Gather and filter problem information
Convert requirements into specifications
Establish the customers requirements
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Requirements vs. Specifications

• Requirements
• Define what the customer wants
• May be subjective, qualitative, difficult to
  measure
• Specifications
• Define what will actually be delivered
• Respond to customers needs, organizational
  capabilities, technology and resource
  availability
• Always Measurable

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Specifications.....

• Precisely define the end product or result
• Quantify the customers needs and specify the
  degree to which the needs will be met
• Should not limit how the customers needs are to
  be addressed
• Consist of
• Metric - Characteristic being measured
• Value or range of values
• Unit of measurement

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Specifications are the yardstick for determining
project success
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Rules for Creating Specifications

• 1. Focus on the end RESULTS.
• 2. Do not build your ideas of how to achieve the
  results into the specifications.
• 3. Make sure that each requirement is covered.
• 4. Make sure that the customers interests are
  protected.
• 5. Make sure that your interests are protected.

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Product Design Specifications

• Guidelines for developing the Product Design
  Specification (PDS)
• (Click here for Product Design Specifications
  (Pugh) presentation)

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The End