FORMAT REVIEW JURNAL

Journal article title: Product Development of Chocolate with Quality Function Deployment
Approach: A Case Study in SMEs Chocolate Industry in Indonesia

Step 1. What is the purpose/hypothesis/aim/objective of the study?

 
a. Write down the exact statement in  
which the authors describe what
they were testing. (Hint: This  
information may be provided in the
article as a purpose statement or as “This research was aimed to develop
a hypothesis). Include quotation chocolate products as a foodstuff
marks around the exact wording, particularly chocolate bar, bread &
and indicate page number(s). chocolate cake, which are based on
customer needs” page 3

“Development of products or services

based on consumer preferences will
likely be responded when sold in the
market. Elements of differentiation for
young consumers are more concerned
with the image and packaging of
products, brands and prices, all of
which are regarded as a symbol of
quality and social status. These factors
are worthy to be considered when
designing a product specifically in
increasing consumption of the
millennial consumer class. Consumers
of Generation Y associate new
products, especially with the
introduction of food without
preservatives and pasteurization as
well as reduction of unfavorable
ingredients for health. Through
consumer preferences, products or
services will be proportionally
developed thus potentially meeting the
expectations and needs of consumers.
On the other hand, if the producer
develops a product or service without

b. Now describe the purpose of the
study (as you understand it) in your
own words.
c. What was the “gap” in the
research that the authors were
trying to fill by doing their study?
involving the customer, it will be less
likely responded by the market or even
abandoned by its customers. Voice of
the customer can be a valuable input
for management in mapping which
areas should be prioritized on product
development” page 3-4
 
The study has a purpose to identify
chocolate products’ important elements
based on customer needs, especially
for chocolate bar, bread & chocolate
cake.
Elements need to be considered (as a
symbol of quality and social status):
-the image and packaging
-brands and prices
Other considerations for Gen Y
customers:
-the introduction of food without
preservatives and pasteurization
-reduction of unfavorable ingredients
for health
 
There is a high potential for chocolate
 producers to market the product
because the global consumption of
chocolate is growing. Even though the
chocolate consumption in Indonesia is
low, the authors think that the market is
still potential because Indonesia and
other Asia countries have large
population. Besides, SMEs focusing on
chocolate products need an innovative
development about it by using quality
function deployment (QFD) which is
relatively rarely implemented in food
industry.

 
Step 2. What is/are the major finding(s) of the study?
a. Make some notes about the
authors’ major conclusions or
findings as written in the article.
Include quotation marks whenever
you use their exact wording, and
indicate page number(s).
b. Now write those
conclusions (as you
understand them) in your
own words.
 
“These ten items of sensory chocolate food
products (taste, texture, aroma, product
appearance, variety, health, freshness, and
packaging) have different importance levels,
in this case consumer gives the biggest
weight (point 5) on the three items of
customer needs, namely aroma, variety and
packaging” –page 7
“Based on the analysis of QFD method, the
priority of product development that can be
done by SMEs are as follows: i) improving
the skill & ability of R & D team (346.3), ii)
improving chocolate content (212.8); iii)
improving machinery and processing
equipment (179.9); iv) improving packaging
design (173.8); v) improving packaging
material (159.8); vi) improving sugar content
(140.8), vii) improving milk content (140.8),
(viii) improving storage system (133.0), (ix)
improving raw materials (113.4), and (x)
improving processing (90.8). End products
sold to the consumers need to be produced
according to market trends and consumer
needs with efficient processing.” –page 9
 
Customers’ needs for chocolate
products in order of its importance:
aroma, variety, and packaging
Product development needs to be

Step 3. How did the authors test their hypothesis?
a. Briefly summarize the main
steps or measurements that the
authors used in their methods.
Try to explain in your own
words as much as possible.
b. Do the authors suggest any
problems or limitations with their
methodology? Do you see any
problems or limitations with their
methodology?
considered by SMEs in order of its
priority: skill & ability of R&D team,
chocolate content, machinery,
packaging design & material, milk
content, storage system, raw materials,
and processing
 
To collect the voice of customers, the
authors distributed questionnaires and
surveys. The voice of customers’
primary levels were divided into
secondary levels to make the customers
answer the questionnaires easily.
 
Sensory quality dimensions used in this
research are taste, texture, aroma, product
appearance and freshness
The research focusing on the
implementation of QFD to the food
processing industry was conducted that
specified the items of customer needs, such
as (i) healthy, (ii) taste, (iii) appearance, (iv)
texture, and others. The research explored
the voice of the customer to primary level
and secondary level where in this case
secondary level is a more detailed
explanation of primary level.

c. How did the authors analyse
their data? What test/s did they
use?
 
The authors use quality functional
deployment (QFD) implementation.
Steps taken are determining customer
needs, a planning matrix, customer’s
technical responses, creating a
relationship between customer needs
and engineering capabilities, identifying
the relationship between parties in
technical parameters, and finally making
technical matrix.
Step 4. How reliable are the results?

a. Do the authors suggest The cocoa industry is more complicated

any problems with the study compared to other food industries because the
that could lead to unreliable ingredients consist of many materials, such as
results? milk, chocolate, and others with various
portions.

Step 5. Based on your analysis, are the claims

made in this journal article accurate?

a. Do the conclusions made
(about the results) by the
author make sense to you?
Are the conclusions too
broad or too narrow based on
what was actually done in the
study?
The conclusion makes sense and very useful for
SMEs that are focused on chocolate
products.However, the recommendations given
by the research are still too broad, for example
the point “improving chocolate content” as a
conclusion of chocolate development is a bit
confusing because there is no explanation
about how the content is preferable for
customers. It applies also to the other
conclusions.
 b. Based on the accuracy of
the methodology and the
reliability of the results as
described in Steps 3 and 4, do
you think the conclusions can
be believed?
Step 6. What is the importance of this scientific work?
a. Write (in your own
words) the significant
contributions of the
experimental work in this
journal article as reported
by the authors.
b.     Re-read your notes and
explain why you think this is
 a strong or weak scientific
 
article
 strong or weak scientific
study
There is no explanation regarding the limitation
of the survey and questionnaires distribution. It
is stated that there is some differences of
customer’s preferences in every country, but the
authors did not mention from  which country the
samples are taken. This might make the
conclusions biased and cannot be a general
result for global customers. Personally we think
the conclusions are doubtful.
SMEs may not be able to develop the product
well and have much capital for research. So
the result of this research is very useful for
them in getting new insights for developing
chocolate products by simple and applicable
method. It is clearly stated several points need
to be considered to develop chocolate product,
such as skill & ability of R&D team, chocolate
content, machinery, packaging design &
material, milk content, storage system, raw
materials, and processing. Therefore, SMEs
producing chocolate can be more focus on
those points.
We think this is a strong scientific article
because there are clear explanations about the
gaps between the problems and the real
condition. Then it also states the methodology
used, followed by the result and conclusion.
The abstract is also very clear, capturing all the
process and result held in the research.
However, we personally think that the research
is included into weak study because there is no
clear limitation and profile of samples taken.
The unclear samples can lead to unbelievable
results. Even though the result is significantly
useful, the variables used in the methodology
might be unreliable because of lack information
regarding samples of customers taken.