Adopting TQM approach to achieve customer satisfaction: A flour milling company case study

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to present the results of a survey of customer satisfaction with regard to the strategy of total quality management (TQM) adopted in a wheat flour milling company. Design/methodology/approach - A survey was conducted to learn more about customer expectations and satisfaction. The respondents were all customers of a flour-based food processor. Quality function deployment (QFD) was applied to improve customer service performance by focusing on customer satisfaction, value and retention. Findings - The results show that customer satisfaction has increased steadily over a period of three years. The QFD approach helped to design a competitive product by aligning the company resources to customers' needs. Research limitations/implications - The findings are limited to a specific food manufacturing company and for this reason they cannot be generalized to the whole in service sector. Further research is needed for other service companies. Practical implications - The findings may support manufacturing companies hoping to achieve customer satisfaction by focusing on TQM implementation efforts. Furthermore, companies can focus their efforts on improving the way in which they meet certain customers' needs if these needs are more extensively related to a certain component of quality management. Originality/value - The paper presents evidence to managers of the value of implementing TQM strategy to effectively achieve customer satisfaction that ultimately leads to greater market share and profit maximization.