VOC, the abbreviation of “Voice of the Customer”, includes external and internal customer’s opinions on product and system. This is what I think VOC is.

By my definition, external customer’s opinion, top management’s directives, department managers’ opinions, whether they are on product or on the system, all are VOCs.

If a customer says you should practice process-approach audit, do you think it’s a VOC?

I am not sure if I got the definition right. I have this doubt because the VOC materials that I met all dealt with product.

The following defination is from our own wiki (see the right handside bar).

(1) A term that refers to the wants, opinions, perceptions, and desires of the customer. (2) The needs and wants of the customer (or aggregate of customers) for a service or product that typically is expressed as a "target", but in the past was usually expressed as a set of tolerances (a "target" with acceptable deviations in either direction). This information provides the basis for designing and managing the process. A process sometimes used to translate the customer voice into product and process planning is [[Quality Function Deployment (QFD).

Notice that it's meant for both product & service or rather there is always a hard part (product) and soft part (service) when we talk about customer perceptions, feedbacks etc.

HI Darkafar,

VOC is also used to refer to "Volatile Organic Compounds". If you come across the term VOC in product related information, it is likely that it refers to Volatile Organic Compounds.

With best wishes,

Ramakrishnan

HI Darkafar,

VOC is also used to refer to "Volatile Organic Compounds". If you come across the term VOC in product related information, it is likely that it refers to Volatile Organic Compounds.

With best wishes,

Ramakrishnan

That's the first thing I thought of when I saw "VOC," but I think it's safe to let context be the guide. If you read something that says, "Don't ever eat VOCs," it's probably safe to assume that it's not referring to the Voice of the Customer. :D

...
If a customer says you should practice process-approach audit, do you think it’s a VOC?




Please be aware that process approach audits are required in ISO 9001 and TS 16949. It is not limited to whether a customer asks for it.

The following defination is from our own wiki (see the right handside bar).



Notice that it's meant for both product & service or rather there is always a hard part (product) and soft part (service) when we talk about customer perceptions, feedbacks etc.

Are you telling me VOC is limited to product?
Because service is a kind of product by ISO9000:2005.
So in your opinion, if a customer tells you to use Pro/E software to draw a picture instead of AutoCAD, this is not a VOC?
I just want to get the defination right, because I am creating a VOC list, and I'm not sure what content it should have.

VOC is a big subject in Marketing and for the good of the business, it shouldn't be defined within the narrow constraints of the few sentences in ISO documents.

A good example is 'price'. Many discard such complaints - especially in this part of the world for it seems like a habit for businesses to bargain for a lower price. Behind such complaints, there are often subtle messages which is that the market is getting very competitive. If you are alert, you can start planning for the future instead of literally waiting for the barbarian to knock at your gates before waking up.

With regards to your question, my answer is yes, this is also VOC. The customer may be using that particular software and if you use them, it's much easier for both. Satisfying customer requirements would also depend on your ability or capacity - not all complains can be entertained and not all are genuine (noise). I suppose you need to record and then prioritize them for action.

Regards.