وبلاگ و اخبار

Introduction

Benefits of ISO 10004 Implementation

When to Apply for Certification

An Overview of ISO 10004 Requirements

Introduction

Customers derive satisfaction from the products, services and capabilities of the organization based on the extent of their needs and expectations that have been met. This satisfaction is one of the key elements in business continuity, increase of market shares and sales rate and also branding improvement. So, it is essential for the organizations to know how happy their customers are and get reliable information. This information will help the organizations identify improvement opportunities in their market strategies, products, services and those characteristics associated with the organization that are important for the customers. These improvements lead to customer trust and loyalty, and therefore, sales rate increase.

In this standard, target customers are those individuals and organizations that receive the products and/ or services of the organization.

.In fact, the level of customer satisfaction shows the gap between customer expectations and perceptions of the organization’s products and services and the aspects that are associated with the organization itself. The organization should realize the customer expectations, which may be implicit or explicit or even not very clear.

It is obvious that customer satisfaction is achieved when the customer perception indicates that the expectations are met by products, services and other aspects associated with the organization itself or when the organization can go beyond the customer expectations.

It is important to know that the organization’s viewpoint to

It is important to understand that the organization’s view of the quality of the delivered product or service differs from the customer’s perception of quality, as outlined in the conceptual model below.

Since, customer satisfaction is constantly changing over time, the organization needs to have processes to monitor and measure customer satisfaction on a regular basis.

Benefits of ISO 10004 Implementation

By implementing ISO 10004, organizations have a greater chance of meeting the expectations of their customers and can also identify the opportunities for improvement of their product or service quality or other aspect associated with the organization.  In addition, the following benefits can be achieved:

• Increase of customer loyalty and satisfaction
• Increase of market share
• Improvement in financial performance
• Continual improvement of product and service design and realization processes
• Timely identification of change in market orientation

When to Apply for Certification

Organizations interested in ISO 10004 standard certification should prepare the documentation structure in accordance with the requirements of the standard and provide adequate and appropriate evidence of the implementation of these requirements.

Since in certification contract, a specific period of time is defined for conducting the third party audit at the organization’s site, the organization has to ensure the availability of the followings as a minimum:

• Identification of the customer expectations and the required actions to address them
• Planning and implementation of a process for monitoring and measurement of customer satisfaction
• Analysis of customer satisfaction data
• Providing the feedback for implementation of corrective actions to improve the related processes

The main point in planning of the process for monitoring and measurement of customer satisfaction is to determine its purpose, which may be one of the followings:

• Evaluation of customer reaction to existing, new or re-designed product/ service
• Obtaining information about specific aspects such as supporting processes, employees and organization behavior
• Investigation about the reasons for loss of customer or market share
• Comparing the level of customer satisfaction with that of competitors
• Monitoring trends in customer satisfaction
• Finding the reasons of customer complaints

An Overview of ISO 10004 Requirements

According to this Standard, the purpose of planning and developing processes for monitoring and measuring customer satisfaction should be determined in the first place, in order to set the relevant objectives of its implementation. Then it is necessary to determine the scope of monitoring and measurement and frequency of its implementation. This means that data segmentation should be based on the customer, region, time and frequency of measurement, market, type of product or service.

• Risk based thinking and considering the interested parties’ needs and expectations of customer satisfaction measurement process
• Planning of a process for:
• Identification of customer expectations
• Collecting customer satisfaction data. This data collection depends on identification and selection of the interested characteristics, for example:
  • Product/ service characteristics including product performance, product/ service specifications, product safety, product aesthetics, supporting services, price, warranty/ guarantee services, customer perception of value, environmental impacts of product/ service
  • Delivery characteristics including on time delivery, complete delivery of orders, response time, operation information
  • Organizational characteristics including personnel competence, billing process, complaints handling process, information security, social responsibilities, organization image, ethics and clarity
• Analysis of customer satisfaction data
• Communication of customer satisfaction information
• Continuous monitoring of customer satisfaction

It should be noted that the organization shall find meaningful relations between direct and indirect indicators of customer satisfaction. Otherwise, there is a big problem in data gathering which needs to be addressed.

Some examples of indirect indicators of customer satisfaction are:

• • Frequency or trend of customer complaints or disputes
  • Frequency or trend of product return or failure or other indicators of product performance such as installation or inspection services
  • Data gathered from voice of customer (VOC) or Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
  • Frequency or trend of service non-conformities like delay in product delivery

• Data gathered in sales and marketing division from communication with customers
• Reports or publications of regulators
• Comments and discussions on social network and media
• And etc.