Certified Production & Operations Manager (POM) Practice Exam

A formal way to document customer requirements is:

1. Consumer surveys

2. A sales/marketing matrix

3. Focus groups

4. Quality function deployment

The correct answer is: Quality function deployment

Quality function deployment is a structured method used to translate customer requirements into specific technical requirements for a product or service. This approach not only captures the voice of the customer but also systematically organizes this information to ensure that important customer needs are prioritized during the development process. By using a tool such as the House of Quality, part of the quality function deployment methodology, teams can visually map customer desires against the technical capabilities of a product, facilitating clear communication and alignment among stakeholders. In contrast, consumer surveys, sales/marketing matrices, and focus groups can gather information about customer preferences and opinions, but they do not provide the same level of structured, direct integration of these requirements into product development as quality function deployment does. These methods may help in understanding customer needs, but they lack the formal process needed to systematically document and prioritize those requirements, making quality function deployment the most formal and effective method among the options presented.