Application of the three realities approach to customer complaints analysis in ...

• Author(s): Soares, João Cláudio Ferreira ; Sousa, Sérgio ; Nunes, Eusébio P.
• Date: 2012
• Persistent ID: http://hdl.handle.net/1822/21749
• Origin: RepositóriUM - Universidade do Minho
• Subject(s): Customer complaints; Product quality; Gemba; Genbutsu; Genjitsu; Product liability; Warranty costs
• Document Type: Article
• Language: English

Description

This work main objective is to adapt and apply the three realities approach (Gemba, Genbutsu, and Genjitsu) to the analysis of field quality problems in a motorcycle industry and gain advantage with regard to the quality of the product on the market (quality management) and transfer to partners financial responsibilities regarding the origins of these problems (management of warranty costs). The three realities approach and other quality methodologies adapted for this work are presented. After the characterization of the context of the case study, a plan for implementation is defined. Based on the plan, development work focused primarily on obtaining the results of the parts analysis (Genbutsu) and in loco analysis (Gemba). The latter is crucial to determine the process to deal with the responsibilities of costs and quality field problems. After the plan implementation, the results obtained are assessed, particularly regarding the management of warranty costs, which are reduced one third, through the provision of responsibilities between suppliers and internal sectors of the company. Similarly, quality management is evaluated through the results of the in loco processes analysis (Gemba), culminating with the results of decision-making (Genjitsu) for corrective actions, improvement and containment, as well as, the determination of its cost/benefit.