|
Original Date: 05/01/1992
Revision Date: 01/18/2007
Information : Customer Satisfaction
In response to the focus on total customer satisfaction, Texas Instrument/Semiconductor Group/Military Products (TI/SG/MP) formed flex teams in 1986 to address the needs of its customers by seeking feedback on criteria the customer considered important -- a prioritized list of customer concerns. These "careabouts" include on-time delivery, configuration control, ship-to-stock, and distribution support. The surveys are also aimed at internal customers, including processing, facilities, training, and marketing. In addition, TI/SG/MP conducts a survey for its distributors. TI/SG/MP uses these internal and external customer requirements to continuously improve customer satisfaction.
The careabout surveys list items that the customer ranks and rates them on a scale of 1 (very important) to 4 (unimportant). In addition, the customer rates the supplier's performance on each careabout using a scale of 1 (poor) to 4 (excellent). TI/SG/MP then analyzes the results and develops an action plan. This effort has produced numerous benefits within and outside the company. For example:
Contract terms and conditions were identified as important careabouts by customers. TI/SG/MP therefore created a government contracts group in response to this concern. The group is staffed with lawyers familiar with government requirements, and negotiations are now conducted face to face, resulting in long term contracts.
In response to a distributor identified careabout on field sales support, TI/SG/MP created a product information center to provide additional support for end customers and distributors.
The ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) product department has been consolidated to improve service and efficiency. Resources have been added and an expedited prototype production flow has been added for those customers requiring extremely fast turnaround.
A marketing section was added to actively market multi chip modules (MCMs), tape-automated bonded die, and known good die (KGD).
A revised distributor re-certification policy was developed to allow samples to be returned from each date code of a product less than three years old rather than returning the entire quantity for re-certification.
TI/SG/MP places emphasis on net profit instead of gross profit to encompass the total cost of doing business. As a result, TI/SG/MP has improved on-time delivery and quality of product shipped in addition to having a competitive pricing strategy.
A facilities response time within the site was reduced to within 30 minutes of routine calls and instantly on emergencies. In addition, review of the results of the tracking were made a "measurable" for the entire organization. The response forms were modified to allow for customer feedback on each follow-up to a trouble call. The percentage of timely response to trouble calls in 1990 was 74% and in 1991 was 80%.
Office layouts were a standard two-person cubicle ranging from 49 square feet to 56 square feet per person with little or no privacy. The new office arrangements provided three layout choices, with 64 square feet and a dividing wall that allowed privacy.
Careabouts provide TI/SG/MP with valuable information by highlighting strengths and weaknesses. Customer satisfaction is obtained by using and working these careabouts. The continuous customer satisfaction improvement has increased TI/SG/MP's market penetration by over 2.3% during 1992 and supports efforts toward the goal of becoming the world's preferred military semiconductor supplier.
For more information see the
Point of Contact for this survey.
|
