Are Your Qustomers Involved? New Report from ASQ Says They Should Be
Milwaukee, Wis. (PRWEB) October 24, 2013 -- Outstanding product and service quality requires a high level of customer involvement — integrating customers at key points where quality is critical to overall success — not just at the point of delivery, according to a new report by ASQ.
ASQ — the leading authority on quality in all fields, organizations and industries — released its first “Global State of Quality Research: Spotlight Report” on the Qustomer™, a term describing the integration of customers and the quality process by sharing quality-specific data, defining requirements or capturing actual perceptions of performance.
According to the Qustomer Spotlight Report, 67.4 percent of respondents share quality performance, to some degree, with customers, but a delicate balance is critical to success: Too much interaction with customers can be costly, but too little won’t yield adequate information to improve quality.
In addition to striking a delicate balance, there are other challenges to incorporating the customer in the quality process; these include cultural differences, intellectual property issues and regulatory standards.
In the Qustomer Spotlight, quality leaders from five organizations, like Airbus, ABF Freight and Booz Allen Hamilton share information about the role of customers within their organizations.
In addition to the Qustomer Spotlight, three more Spotlight Reports will be released that will link research data with interviews from quality leaders around the world and provide a detailed analysis of topics identified in the ASQ Global State of Quality Research.
“These Spotlight Reports take a close look at the data presented in the Global State of Quality Research, providing real-world examples of the impact of quality,” said ASQ Chair John Timmerman. “The Qustomer Spotlight offers examples of how organizations are engaging customers to improve product performance and services, and offers approaches that all companies can use and benefit from.”
ASQ’s Global State of Quality Research — the first-ever global research of its kind — provides baseline data about the current state of practices quality professionals and organizations use. To conduct the research, ASQ partnered with APQC, an industry leader in quality and continuous improvement benchmarking research.
ASQ also will release the third and final phase of the research during World Quality Month in November. Entitled “ASQ Global State of Quality Research: Insights and Continuing Conversations,” this report explores conversations and insights about the data from the quality community worldwide.
For more information on the Global State of Quality Research and to download available reports, visit globalstateofquality.org. To gain more information on ASQ’s Global State of Quality Research, please contact ASQ Managing Director Laurel Nelson-Rowe at lnelson-rowe(at)asq(dot)org.
About ASQ
ASQ is a global community of people dedicated to quality who share the ideas and tools that make our world work better. With millions of individual and organizational members of the community in 150 countries, ASQ has the reputation and reach to bring together the diverse quality champions who are transforming the world’s corporations, organizations and communities to meet tomorrow’s critical challenges. ASQ is headquartered in Milwaukee, Wis., with national service centers in China, India, Mexico and a regional service center in the United Arab Emirates. Learn more about ASQ’s members, mission, technologies and training at asq.org.
About APQC
APQC, a 35-year-old nonprofit organization located in Houston, Texas, USA, is an internationally recognized resource for process and performance improvement. APQC helps organizations adapt to rapidly changing environments, build new and better ways to work, and succeed in a competitive marketplace. With a global focus on productivity, knowledge management, benchmarking and quality improvement initiatives, APQC works with its member organizations to identify best practices, discover effective methods of improvement, broadly disseminate findings and connect individuals. Founded in 1977, APQC is a member-based nonprofit serving more than 350 of the Fortune 1000 global companies and numerous government organizations worldwide. Learn more at apqc.org.
Kevin Braley, ASQ, http://http:www.asq.org, +1 (414) 272-8575 7587, [email protected]
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