ENHANCING SERVICE EXCELLENCE:

QUALITY FUNCTION DEPLOYMENT (QFD),

KANO MODEL, AND TRIZ IN SERVICE
INDUSTRIES
Service Excellence matters because customers have choices. They have a lot of options and they gravitate
towards businesses that consistently provide exceptional service.

HOW DO ORGANIZATIONS TACKLE THOSE CHALLENGES AND STRIVE FOR

EXCELLENCE?
- We use all these tools to identify areas of improvement
- To prioritize actions
- Which problem that you think is the most important that you would address in solving
- By doing so, you can be able to create a culture of excellence

QUALITY
KANO MODEL TRIZ
FUNCTION
DEPLOYMENT
THE JOURNEY TOWARDS SERVICE Because it is the customers who must buy
EXCELLENCE the product and who must be satisfied with it, the
product must be developed with their needs and
 Understanding customer expectations and wants as the principal inputs to the new product
needs development project. When that is not the case, the
 Establishing clear service standards and new product is often disappointing.
benchmarks
 Training and empowering your staff - Ronald G. Day
 Gathering and acting upon customer
feedback
 Continuously innovating and improving

Customers want an authentic connection with the brand they support. They also expect responsive, personal,
and demand not only quality but also transparency.

QUALITY FUNCTION DEPLOYMENT (QFD) IN SERVICES

CUSTOMER- CUSTOMER
DEFINED INVOLVEMENT QUALITY
QUALITY (key element) FUNCTION
(fundamental element of DEPLOYMENT
The Fuel that power quality
total quality) function deployment
WHAT IS QUALITY FUNCTION DEPLOYMENT?
- It is a specialized method for making customer needs/wants important components of the design and
production of the product or service.
- First introduced in the West in the 1980s.
Primary concerns:
 The matrices are difficult to use and too time-consuming for our new lean organization
 The math used to establish priorities lacks the precision necessary for a Six Sigma company
 Questions regarding the validity of the math
 Difficulty in obtaining a clear understanding of customer wants.
The motivation to use:
 It is logical
 It is preferable to design
 Improve a system
 Manufacture a product that satisfactorily addresses the needs of prospective customers that one that
doesn’t
In going through the QFD process, all the functional departments of the organization are involved from day one
and this is the primary objective of the total quality management, as well.
QFD may not be appropriate for all cases. Must be tailored to a certain circumstance. QFD is still evolving.

QUALITY FUNCTION DEPLOYMENT

One of the keys to achieving customer satisfaction and continual improvement is understanding your
customer’s needs and wants always and using them to guide the design and follow processes that create a
product for your customers who will purchase and use the product.

Dr. Yoji Akao

- Father of QFD (1966)
- Japanese quality expert

QFD combined quality strategies with “function deployment” from the field of Value
Engineering:
1. Identifying customer needs known in QFD-speak as the “Voice of the Customer” (VOC)
2. Identifying the product attributes that will most satisfy the VOC (serve as the guiding light for service
improvement initiative)
3. Establishing product development and testing targets and priorities that will result in a product or
service that satisfies the VOC
It helps service providers align their actions and strategies with what customers value most. So, by prioritizing
VOC, departments, and offices can make data-driven decisions and allocate resources where they matter most.
Over half a century, General Motors went from the largest corporation to bankruptcy by making it a virtual
religion to ignore customer wants. QFD requires that you obtain customers want input and translate those to
satisfy your customers’ voices.
Creating the HOUSE OF QUALITY for services involves several steps:
 Identifying Customer Needs
 Identifying Service Features
 Prioritizing Features
 Establishing Relationships – between the customer needs and the service features. How each feature
impacts each need from the customer.
By identifying your customer’s wants, you could be able to determine which service features or attributes can
meet those needs and at the same time you will be prioritizing those features. Not all features are of equal
importance to the customers. Prioritization helps you focus on the most critical aspect.
The House of Quality provides several benefits in the context of the service industry:
 It ensures that service improvements are aligned with customer needs
 It facilitates cross-functional collaboration by visualizing relationships
  It helps organizations prioritize actions based on customer impact

The heart of QFD is a set of interrelated matrices known as the “House of the Quality”.
 QFD is a customer-driven process for planning products and services
Sheridan (1993) describes policy deployment as the development of a measurement-based
system as a means of planning for continuous quality improvement throughout all levels of an
organization.
 QFD matrices “the House of Quality” are graphical displays of the result of the planning process.
 QFD is a system for the design of a product or service based on customer demands
 QFD involves the entire company in the design and control activity
 QFD provides documentation for the decision-making process.
STEPS IN QFD IMPLEMENTATION FOR SERVICES
1. Identifying Customer Needs – actively seek the voice of customers to understand what your customers
truly desire
o Gathering Customer Feedback – utilizing surveys, feedback forms, and online reviews (focus on
both explicit and implicit needs)
o Categorizing and Prioritizing Needs
2. Creating the Service House of Quality (HOQ) – a road map that links your customer's need to service
features
o Identifying Service features – can fulfill customer needs (Tangible Aspects (quantitative) -
response time, service feed, time study) (intangible Aspects – by observing if the staff are
friendly)
o Prioritizing Service Features – not all features are equally impactful
o Establishing Relationships – between the customer needs and service features
3. Deploying Improvements to Service Delivery – put your plan into action
o Implementing Changes – engage all relevant teams and departments

These needs are the

customers would like
to see or have
corrected in a
particular office or
department that you
are working with.
They are the
company must
address to produce a
particular product or
improve a particular
service that will find
favortowith
HOW the
company
intends to respond to
customer.
each of the customer
needs. Sometimes refer
to as the VOICE OF
THE COMPANY. The
technical requirements
are not the design
specifications of the
product rather they are
characteristics and
features of a particular
product that is perceived
as meeting the customer
needs. Measure by
weight, strengths, speed
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The HOQ will help the
organization ensure that
all aspect of the product
design always adheres to
customer needs.

KANO MODEL
- An approach to prioritizing features on a product roadmap based on the degree to which they are likely
to satisfy customers.
- One of many prioritization frameworks designed to help product teams prioritize initiatives.
- Help teams determine which features will satisfy and even delight customers
- Provides a structured approach to comprehending customer desires and tailoring products or services to
fulfill those desires effectively
THREE CATEGORIES OF PRODUCT
ATTRIBUTES
 Basic Needs (Must-Be Quality)
 Performance Needs (One-Dimensional
Quality)
 Excitement Needs (Attractive Quality)

KANO MODEL ANALYSIS

 Using the Kano Model for Service Development
 Mapping Attributes to Customer Needs
 Balancing Different Types of Needs
 Continuous Improvement and Adaptation
 Personalization and Customer-Centricity
The Kano Model’s application in the service industry helps organizations systematically analyze and prioritize
service attributes to meet and exceed customer expectations. By understanding the varying degrees of customer
satisfaction associated with different attributes, service providers can allocate resources wisely, innovate where
it matters most, and maintain a strong customer-centric approach to service delivery. This can ultimately lead
to improved customer loyalty and competitive advantage in the service industry.

IMPLEMENTING THE KANO MODEL

1. Gather Customer Feedback
o Can be done through surveys, interviews, online, reviews, and direct interactions
2. Categorize Customer Input
 o Organize the collected feedback by categorizing it into different attributes and features of your
service. Group similar comments and suggestions together.
3. Apply the Kano Classification
o Use the Kano Model’s framework to classify customer feedback into:
 Basic Needs: Identify which aspects of your service customers consider essential.
Typically related to reliability, accuracy, and fundamental service delivery
 Performance Needs: Determine which attributes, when improved, can linearly enhance
satisfaction. Focus on these areas to meet or exceed customer expectations
 Excitement Needs: Recognize innovative or unexpected features that can delight
customers. These are the areas where you have the opportunity to differentiate your
service.
4. Prioritize Action
o Prioritize addressing basic needs first to prevent dissatisfaction, then work on improving
performance needs, and finally, consider innovative ways to meet excitement needs
5. Design Innovation
o For excitement needs, explore opportunities for innovation. Engage in brainstorming and
creative thinking to develop new features or service elements that can surprise and delight
customers
6. Continuous Monitoring
o Implement mechanisms to continuously monitor customer satisfaction and gather feedback. Use
this feedback to adapt and evolve your service over time to remain aligned with changing
customer expectations.

TRIZ (THEORY OF INVENTIVE PROBLEM SOLVING)

- A technology-based, systematic methodology that aims to overcome “psychological inertia” and
generate a large range of solution concepts. With the use of a contradiction matrix, it provides a
framework and toolbox for systematic, inventive problem-solving.

KEY
PRINCIPLES OF TRIZ
 Contradiction in Problem-Solving
 o A contradiction typically involves a conflict between two or more desirable attributes or
functions within a system
 Identify the Ideal Final Result (IFR)
o The IFR represents a state where a system or product fulfills its function perfectly without any
drawbacks or contradictions
 Laws of Technical Systems Evolution
o Include principles like the Law of Increasing Ideality, the Law of Transition to a Supersystem,
and the Law of Increased Coordination
 The Inventive Problem-Solving Process
o Typically involves steps like defining the problem, identifying contradictions, selecting inventive
principles, and generating innovative solutions using TRIZ tools and techniques.