Getting Personal About Customer Requirements

How do they fit into your QMS?

Ok, men. Leave the room.

Today, I want to discuss fulfilling customer requirements as they relate to one particular product: The bra. For those men who’ve not heeded the warning to leave, you may, by the end of this article have discovered, one of the perennial reasons for your spouse’s grumpiness. Quite frankly, shopping for and procuring a comfortable and functional bra is a feat requiring the specificity of an engineer, the undaunted persistence of a bloodhound, the time of an idle trust fund brat, and the patience of a saint. And consider that this is a multibillion dollar industry.

I’d like to take a look at the processes related to the production of this undergarment in terms of the requirements of ISO 9001 and pose questions relative to the level of conformance vis-à-vis the design and manufacture of the product and any analysis of customer satisfaction.

Let’s take the last one first: Customer satisfaction. ISO 9001 has multiple requirements relating to the need to measure and analyze customer satisfaction.

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Comments

Customer requirements for personal garments

As a frequently unsatisfied customer of said consumer products, I agree with you 100%. How do we clue in the supply chain that health and quality of life is at stake here, not just aesthetics?

While I agree entirely with

While I agree entirely with the article, should not something be said for cost and service? Can a bra not be better fit by a trained individual, and better fitting products provided at greater cost? Part of the customer requirement is always value - do you have to pay more for a more satisfactory product? Ideally, using the standards would say no, since you get the customer requirements nailed down and then provide for them. But in the garment industry that finds the cheapest overhead for the largest volume product, I would think that putting people variation in separate buckets, ie standardized sizes and shapes is the most efficient design.

If only you knew...

Let's talk about cost, service and "trained" individuals. I've been to bra fittings provided by stores who say their salespeople are "trained" bra fitters. What they do is measure you, leave you sitting cold and half naked in the fitting room, and reappear with several styles which "should" fit. You put them on, adjust the straps and then are told that one breast is bigger than the other. DUH---I've always known that! Then the sales person says that is a hard thing to work around and I'll just have to choose the best of the bunch. And oh, by the way, DO try the lacy one because my husband will like it best. NOT that it will fit any better but that my husband will like it best.

I have paid as much as $80 for a bra that only semi-fits, because that is all that is available. What we need are bespoke bras, the way men's fine shirts and suits are made. When was the last time you saw an ad for bespoke brassieres?

Instead of burning our bras, I think we ought to research how many of these companies are ISO certified and begin a letter campaign. There must be some way to get better quality and service than the current practice!

Great examples of form, fit

Great examples of form, fit and function. You really need to forward this article to the quality and customer satisfaction managers at Playtex, Maidenform, Victoria Secret, Bali, etc.....! Wonder how many of these companies are ISO9001 registered.... Need I say more?