Quality function deployment (QFD): An application on transportation sector

Quality function deployment (QFD) is a planning process and methodology that helps companies for listening voice of customer, producing new products and providing new services or improving their current products and services according to customers' requirements and requests and transforms voice of customer to technical language of company. This quality methodology has been implemented in Head Office of Istanbul Electric Tramway and Tunnel Establishments for metrobus transportation. The aim of this study is to listen voice of customer, determine customers' requests, requirements and thoughts properly, integrate these thoughts into metrobus service processes properly, improve service quality in metrobus transportation, increase customer satisfaction and act as customer-oriented. With the house of quality that has been created at the end of this study it has been seen that the most important subjects for customer satisfaction and increasing service quality of metrobus are crowdedness of vehicles, suitability of metrobus stations for bad weather conditions and people with disabilities, working of air condition systems in vehicles properly and loading money for Istanbul Card easily. Technical requirements that needs to be worked on for improving service quality about these subjects have been found as line optimization, security cameras on metrobus stations, capacity of vehicles, air-conditioning systems, closed stations, transit areas for metrobus, conditions of over passes and underpasses, elevators and disabled access ramps, vending machines and dealers for Istanbul Card. After that targets have been determined by project team to improve these technical requirements. With this study it also has been shown that quality function deployment technique can be used as a strategic tool in public transportation sector to increase customer satisfaction for quality management.