A First Course in Quality Engineering, 2nd Edition

Continuous Improvement of Quality 507

of the problem� (In some situations, nding how well the customers are satis-

ed could itself be a project�)

Collect whatever data necessary, and use whatever tool necessary to analyze

the data� Find the root causes of the problem, and understand why these causes

exist� Identify solution alternatives to eliminate the root causes, and make rec-

ommendations for improving the quality of the product or service and, thus,

the customer’s satisfaction� If the improvements can be implemented, pro-

vide data on the performance measure to indicate the improvement has been

accomplished� If changes cannot be imp