Operations strategy and management

my free school tannzania August 04, 2014
Section 1: CUSTOMER SATISFACTION
1.1 PRODUCTS AND PRODUCT ATTRIBUTES:
§Products are desired set of process outputs.
§Different customers may have different expectations of  a specific product.
§To satisfy customers ; the process manager must know what these expectations are. We call them the key product attributes.

key product attributes: Are those properties that customers consider important.
Product attributes
1.Product cost: is the total cost that a customer incurs in order to own and experience the product. It includes purchase price and other costs incurred during the lifetime of the product e.g maintenance, insurance and even final disposal. Should be within customers budget.
2.Product delivery response time: Is the total time that a customer must wait for , before receiving a product for which he or she has expressed a need to the provider. Customers prefer short response time.
Product attributes cont…
 •Product variety-Is the range of choices offered to the customer to meet his or her needs.
          - It can be measured by the level of                 customization or the number of product lines offered.
•Product quality- The degree of excellence that determines how well the product performs.
     - It is a function of effective design  and production that conforms to the design.
     - It is the most difficult product attribute to define and measure because subjective judgment and perception play important roles in customer’s assessment of quality.      Product attributes cont…
   •From customer’s perspective; Quality depends on product’s features ( what it can do), performance ( how well it functions), how consistently it functions over time, serviceability ( how quickly it can be restored) and  conformance to expectations.
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The value of a product to the customer is measured by utility derived from the combination of the four attributes. They prefer high quality products, available in a wide variety, delivered quickly and at a low cost. Balancing these attributes not easy, high quality result in high cost etc.
An important strategic business decision involves selecting the right combination of product attributes that will result in a product that appeals to a particular segment of the market.
Product attributes
 1.Product cost: is the total cost that a customer incurs in order to own and experience the product. It includes purchase price and other costs incurred during the lifetime of the product e.g maintenance, insurance and even final disposal. Should be within customers budget.
2.Product delivery response time: Is the total time that a customer must wait for , before receiving a product for which he or she has expressed a need to the provider. Customers prefer short response time.