Abstract:

Quality Function Deployment (QFD) is based on the philosophy of developing goods and services to satisfy customer requirements and it transforms the voice of customers to technical requirements. QFD, used as an efficient tool for quality improvement for a long time, is implemented at a fast food restaurants in this study. The main purpose of the study is to illustrate, through a case study, how to utilize QFD in improving good and service quality in fast food restaurants. To determine customer requirements, a questionnaire was conducted at the first stage of the study and the requirements were grouped by factor analysis. Relationships between customer requirements and technical requirements were determined through meetings with senior restaurant managers. Determined customer satisfaction levels were also compared with the ones of a competitor fast food restaurant. According to the constructed house of quality, customer requirements ranked in the order of importance are; speed of service, cleanness and hygiene, and quality of foods and drinks. Furthermore, the most important technical requirements are technical trainings, research and development activities, and standard methods and recipes. In a fast food industry that increases its market share rapidly in recent years, businesses that try to provide competitive and customer-focused goods/ services, can improve their processes by considering the important customer and technical requirements determined in this study as well as using QFD in different areas for process improvement.

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