Managing Quality

The types of quality Dunkin Donuts follows to ensure for customer satisfaction are described below….

- Quality of design, which is determined before the product is produced. It is determined by market research, design concept and specifications. The specification in our company would be the recipe with the list of ingredients needed to make the new muffin or bagel. From the researches ordinarily aimed at assessing customer need, we know that the expectations of customers have changed, so the recipes have to be modified. People are more into healthy life styles and are very careful with what they eat, so Dunkin Donuts has adjusted the ingredients to fit the new trends in society.

- Quality of conformance, which means producing a product to meet the specifications. When the product conforms to specifications, a company considers it a quality product regardless of the quality of the design specification. If the muffin or bagel is made according to recipe, it means that it met the quality of conformance.

- Availability, which is the continuity of service to the customer. One example is the phone line, which customers can call with any complaints and suggestions. In addition, all products are stocked according to projected sales, and the managers ensure that everything is available for the customers before they arrive at the register.

- Maintainability - which refers to the restoration of a product or service once it has failed. If the customer is not happy with the service or product provided, managers can compensate him or her by giving a discount or a gift card. It is easier, cheaper and smarter for the company to keep the repeat customers happy than it is to focus solely on the new ones. Also, Dunkin Donuts contracts with businesses that fix appliances and machines in each restaurant, such as coffee makers and ovens. Doing so provides for a decreased mean time to repair, a lessened mean time before failure, and ultimately an increase in availability.

- Reliability, which refers to the length of time that a product can be used before it fails, is associated with the mean time before failure. Both employees and customers rely on technology in providing them with their product and service. Even the cup used to fill the coffee must be reliable, for customers do not want the hot coffee to get cold too quickly.

- Field service, which is the last dimension of quality, represents warranty and repairs or replacement of the product after it has been sold. Use of surveys along with the time it takes to reply to the surveys and give unhappy customers gift cards are examples of this.

Almost all measures of quality are subjective, for each customer has his or her own needs and desires. SERVQUAL is a very important measure of quality, for customer surveys and secret shopper reports provide essential feedback necessary to satisfy customers. Appearance of the interior and exterior of the restaurant must be at the highest level possible. Responsiveness of each employee is important, for he or she must always be behind the counter to greet each customer. The employee must also have the proper training, motivation and care to provide the customer with friendly service and the correct order in a timely fashion.

The quality of cycle requires the sequence of steps:

1) Define quality attributes on the basic of customer needs,

2) Define how to measure each attribute

3) Set quality standards

4) Establish appropriate tests for each standards

5) Find and correct causes of poor quality

6) Continue to make improvement.

Ad 1) The research is conducted to find out and analyze the customers’ orientation. Employees must hand receipts to every customer. Every receipt asks the customer to fill out a survey online in return for a free donut. The main office has a marketing team, which interprets customers’ needs. An example of a need is a new, reduced carb bagel for the more health-conscious customer. An attribute for the new low carb bagel is that it is healthier than most other bagels but still has the same great taste as the other products.

Ad 2) The engineering, or culinary team then comes up with a recipe. The product is made and each franchisee owner orders the product and utilizes its quality control methods to ensure freshness and consistency.

Ad 3) The quality standards in this case would be the weight of the product or the picture, showing the color and shape it can be compared to.

Ad 4) Inspection of each ingredient used to make the bagels and the size and shape of each bagel are ways of measuring quality. An example of a standard would be that the bagels are compared with pictures of bagels.

Ad 5) If the finished product is significantly different than the picture, in either size or color, it is tossed. Because every single bagel cannot be fully inspected in a timely manner, only a few bagels from each batch are tested. This is an example of their testing program. A quality assurance team at the main office works to find the underlying causes to defects and managers of each franchise must also do the same.

Upon discovering defects, quality personnel and workers should find the underlying causes and correct them. Causes of poor quality could include improper raw materials, lack of training, unclear procedures, a faulty machine, and so on.

The idea of the quality trilogy: planning, control, and improvement of quality. In the planning area company should identify the major business goals, customers, and product required.

In Dunkin Donuts case the goal would be proving tasty food in convenient location. Recently, the new requirement fitting the customer needs – are more healthy products. Due to low prices, our target market would be almost every member of our society.

The training and involvement of all employees is necessary to ensure continuous quality improvement.

Even with all the Dunkin Donuts does to ensue quality is up tar, there are additional processes they should consider following. One example is for franchise owners to sit down together and go over Deming's 14 Management Principles to ensure they stay leaders in the industry. Another would be for the company to come up with their own type of "Baldrige Award" which could be given to the top restaurants for upholding high quality standards.