A case simulation: Customer Satisfaction Measurement

I set up a case simulation below which I think there must be something wrong with this part of quality management system against ISO 9001 relevant requirements. However I am not sure the severity of this “something wrong”. Is there a major nonconformance, a minor or OFI in this case? I am looking forwards to your opinions (judgement and reason) ^ ^

Case description

The A company makes things. (I.e. some kind of product) Regarding the customer satisfaction, the way to achieve customers` perspectives on “to which extent it has meet the customers` requirements and expectations” is to conducts opinion surveys and to calculate the number of yearly complaints of each customer (the real performance at the customers`). And based on these two kinds of data, using some kind of weighed average calculation, we will get a score to demonstrate the customer satisfaction towards the A company. The A company does implement this process on a regular basis to get indicators of each customers` satisfaction.
However, in the daily life, this score seems lack of attention. The KPI of quality department, relevant to the customer, is the actual product performance at the customers` sites which is the quantity of the customer complaints. No one really care this score. Maybe the only exclusion is the CB auditer. t.t

NOTE: This description may be not sufficient in terms of details. However it states the key points.

Thanks.

 

Judegu,

Customer satisfaction 9.1.2 ( ISO 9001:2015 )

The organization shall monitor customers' perceptions of the degree to which their needs and expectations have been fulfilled. The organization shall determine the methods for obtaining, monitoring and reviewing this information
Note: Examples of monitoring customer perceptions CAN include customer surveys, customer feedback on delivered products and services, meeting with customers, market share analysis, compliments, warranty claims and dealer reports


The A company does implement this process on a regular basis to get indicators of each customers` satisfaction.

It is good that the company is measuring and monitoring customer satisfaction perception so all looks well so far in terms of compliance.

What then happens with the results that require improved customer satisfaction ? What does happen or supposed to happen ?

Does the quality department know what is expected from them regarding improving complaints ( communication / training correct ? ) is this part of the customer satisfaction process /procedure laid down by company A ?

If not why not ?

The KPI of quality department, relevant to the customer, is the actual product performance at the customers` sites which is the quantity of the customer complaints. No one really care this score.

The quality department should be analysing these complaints ( non-conformances ) to determine root cause, looking for trends and taking the necessary corrective / preventative action to resolve with the relevant departments, as part of their non-conformance process and part of continuous improvement.

The question to ask here - who is no one ? and why does no one care ?

How does the management ( and therefore your QMS ) expect customer satisfaction to be measured and monitored, is it based on the Quality KPI ? , this will determine what you are auditing against and whether the business, Quality department or both are non - compliant, or there is a gap to fill

Has 9.1 Monitoring , measurement ,analysis and evaluation , 9..1.1 / 9..1.3 been met ?

Has 8.7 Control of non conforming outputs been met , 8.7.1 and 8.7.2

 

While the concept of "the quality department should...." is not necessarily wrong (and is indeed most common), the industry needs to get beyond the concept that the Quality Department is the owner of the Quality Management System. The standard requires (now in the 2015 revision more than ever) that leadership, commitment and accountability of the Quality Management System is the responsibility of Top Management (5.1.1) . Likewise, Management Review Inputs (9.3.2) stipulates customer satisfaction as one of those inputs.
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/lets-abolish-quality-john-abnet/

The Quality Department rarely has the authority to make the type of decisions necessary to allow a Quality Management System to be fully functional and successful. WIthout the complete support of Top Management, the " quality department" is simply pushing a rope.

Without knowing more information about the organization being described by the original poster, I see the potential for two problems...

1- " The KPI of quality department, relevant to the customer, is the actual product performance at the customers` sites which is the quantity of the customer complaints. " may not currently be an input into Management Review. If that is the case, then the recommendation (requirement) is to obviously MAKE that data an input into Management Review.
2- If the aforementioned data is already an input into Management Review, and "No one really care this score" then the current Top Management is not only doomed to fail the organization in regards to ISO compliance, but also likely to doom the organization in regards to performance that is expected by its customers.

Hope this helps.

Be well.

 

Hi judegu,

Do you want a problem or a solution?))
If you want to „sell“ current situation to an auditor (I.e. justify why nobody cares about this KPI so much) is only possible if you do not have a lot of complaints indeed (I.e. proportion of complaints towards what you produce is let’s say a fraction of a percent). Then you document an risk analysis stating that due to the the low relevance of complaints due to the nature of your business (let’s say you produce matches) - you decided to balance the resources and not develop the process further.
If you like to develop the process further however I would also recommend to include customer audits into „customer satisfaction“ if you go through them

 

@Artem @ John C. Abnet @ Steve Evans
Thank you for your valuable insights, guys.

Though I said that it was a case simulation, as it would be always, this is definitely originated from the real life.
As for the customer satisfaction, I have found a real good old thread about this topics and indeed learned a lot good experience from the others.
How do you measure/monitor customer satisfaction?
Measuring the customer satisfaction via the customer survey is not just good enough to get objective, comprehensive and unbiased information.

Regarding the case I laid down here, the customer survey, from my perspective, is just for the audit purpose, though I doubt that when the auditor WANTS to dig further into it, this customer survey process would survive the digging. However it (customer survey) likes one of the bad legacy from the past, it just remains there, simply exists without any value (in someone`s head, it maybe has some value. I don`t know.)