Here's the Voice of the Customer as heard by a folding carton printer in St. Paul, MN. Mike Jorgensen, president of Impressions Inc., an ISO 9000 certified company, gave us permission to reproduce their checklist. Look at it first and then let's talk about it.
A. Delivery requirements
1. Delivery timeline drawn and discussed
2. Physical restrictions
3. Hours of operation
4. Labeling requirements
5. Transport time required
6. Preferred delivery parties
7. Bill of lading
8. Pallet requirements
9. Packing requirements
10. Weight restrictions
11. "Attention to" identified
12. Special wrapping or secondary packing needs
B. Quality requirements
1. Customer's audit system (ISO, Baldrige, Mil Std 105, Six Sigma)
2. Identify objects to match as standard
i. Computer monitor lasers, previously produced pieces, original images, check quality with customer before scanning
ii. Actual product
iii. CD or downloaded images
3. Branding requirements (available guidelines)
4. Corporate colors or logos
5. Delta E tolerances
6. Bar codes
7. Creative or design process understood
i. Agency or creative service, file formats, applications used, operating system
8. Special effects (HiFi color, blends, vignettes, metallics)
9. Hard copy provided (latest version)
10. File directory provided
11. Customer revision control procedures understood
12. Regulatory requirements
C. Counts
1. Customer demand signals
i. MRP, Kanban, JIT, supply chain, VMI, requisition
2. Identify control procedure
3. Over/under policy understood
4. Past order history
5. Discuss how batch count is made
6. Carton or packing lots required
D. Service requirements
1. Customer's proofing cycle understood
i. Time needed to evaluate proof
ii. All individuals responsible for proof evaluation identified