CTQ/VOC

Critical to Quality In the Voice of the Customer

The CTQ process helps us to

put metrics to quality
CTQ is a tool that helps us find a way to measure
process
Defect
Unit
Opportunity

This is not an easy thing to do

Start With The

Customer
Gather comments in the Voice of
the Customer

Customer Needs
eSurveys
Focus Groups
Surveys
emails
Comment cards

Translate them into issues and

specifications
CTQ (Critical To Quality) a
product or service characteristic
that must be met to satisfy a
customer specification or
requirement.

Then we define our

defects
A defect is defined as any part of a product or
service that:
does not meet customer specifications or
requirements, or
causes customer dissatisfaction, or
does not fulfill the functional or physical
requirements.

We define our units

A unit is something that
can be quantified by a
customer

We define our opportunities

Opportunities are the total number of chances
per unit to have a defect
Each opportunity must be

independent of other opportunities

measurable
observable
it directly relates to the customer CTQ

The total count of opportunities indicates the

complexity of a product or service

Let's look at some

examples
Our aims is a number
A quantifiable measure of quality
Usually errors per something
Example:

Survey completions/survey starts = measure of

usability
Want to answer 85% of calls within 20 seconds

Call Center
Customer Quote: 'I consistently wait too long to speak to a
representative.'
CTQ Name: Representative Responsiveness
CTQ Measure: Time on hold (seconds)
CTQ Specification: Less than 60 seconds from call connection to
the automated response system
Defect: Calls with hold time equal and greater than 60 seconds
Unit: Call
Opportunity: 1 per call
Calculate Your Sigma

Defects: 263 calls

Units: 21,501 calls
Opportunities: 1 per call
Sigma: 3.75

Book Publisher
Customer Quote: 'I can't stand typos in books I purchase.'
CTQ Name: Typographic Quality
CTQ Measure: Number of typographical mistakes
CTQ Specification: Zero typographical mistakes
Defect: Any typographical mistakes
Unit: A word
Opportunity: Words per book
Calculate Your Sigma

Defects: 2 typographical mistakes

Units: 100,000 (500 words/page x 200 pages/book)
Opportunities: 1 per word
Sigma: 5.61

Printed Circuit Board

Manufacturing
Customer Quote: 'Boards must work when I plug them in.'
CTQ Name: Board Functionality
CTQ Measure: Non-functioning or improperly functioning
boards
CTQ Specification: All boards function properly
Defect: Any non-functioning or improperly functioning board
Unit: A board
Opportunity: Total number of parts plus solder points
Calculate Your Sigma

Defects: 18 boards
Units: 1,000 boards
Opportunities: 58 (1 board + 13 resistors + 4 capacitors + 2 diodes +
38 solder points)
Sigma: 4.92

Conclusion
To measure quality you can use CTQ/VOC
First gather customer quotes
Translate them into quality points
Figure out how to measure them
Determine defects, units, and opportunities
Set an acceptable range