Listening to the Voices of Customers and Making Decisions in Meetings
Around 25 people participate in the monthly VOC meeting, including Masaharu Okubo, president of Olympus Imaging Corp. He can be seen at the back right.
LCD booster function for the µ760/ Stylus 760 improved based on discussions at VOC meetings. Low visibility under sunlight during daytime was improved by increasing the luminance of the monitor. Function buttons were also moved for better operability.
At VOC meetings participants listen to the voices of our customers first. Customer support centers and service stations receive comments directly from users of our digital cameras and other products and services. Sometimes the number of comments amounts to as many as 20,000 a month. The VOC meeting has been set up to reflect these voices from the consumer market in product improvement.
Basically, managers and senior employees from product-related departments such as quality, product planning, development, and sales, attend the meeting, as well as senior executives, (including the President) who have the authority to make business decisions. This is because this meeting is seen as an opportunity to clarify problems, determine the direction of how to solve them, and to set relevant deadlines.
"Deadlines, responsible persons, and countermeasures are determined on the spot in this meeting. This way does not leave problems unresolved," says Seiichi Wakamatsu at Support & Service Dept., Global Sales & Marketing Div., Olympus Imaging Corp. In the meeting, comments from customers, letters, faxes, e-mails, and those posted on the website are submitted without change for attendants to listen to and read.
"The important point is to directly report fresh voices," says Wakamatsu. The quality review is designed to reflect customers' comments on products as well. On the 30th and the 90th day following the launch of a product, quality and other related information is collected to reflect on each product or service and correct defects and improve quality. At the same time, VOC meetings are used to reflect customers' needs for the actual development of products and services.
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