Design of batik product quality improvement by applying QFD model.

• Author: Wurjaningrum, Febriana

1. INTRODUCTION

   Improving quality is one of firms' efforts to achieve sustainable competitive advantage, it is then considered as the most important factor in competing global competitive (Zalim and Mehmet, 2000). The increasing consumers' demand of product quality motivates many firms to improve their product or service in order to sustain their existence and success toward facing regional and international competitors' threats. For those purposes, companies have to be focused to develop continuously quality improvements for consumers' satisfaction. Quality improvement is adjusted by the types whether it is product quality or service quality. There are several phases to be done for continuous quality improvements such as identifying consumer needs, identifying competitors, selecting data, collecting data, analyzing data and implementing the decision (Shen et al., 2000).

   Quality function deployment model is commonly applied by various industries included small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Although SMEs are regarded as small and medium industries, they generate rapid business growth and capable to exist while economics crisis attack violently Indonesia. And then the problem is whether small and medium enterprises are capable to be functioned as break-through for raising back industrial sectors in Indonesia or not. This question proposed after seeing the reality about industry competitors in Indonesia nowadays is international industries or multinational firms which have very high competitive advantages (Marijan, 2000). Moreover, the role of SMEs especially in developing countries such as Indonesia is very important regarding their capabilities to absorb labor and flexible toward economic crisis, with the result that the existence of SMEs have very important role in economic structure of a country.

   To develop and empower SMEs competitiveness is a priority to face globalization phenomena. By facing the limitations of resources, the SMEs have to select development strategies so that they have sustainable competitive advantage. In order to have sustainable competitive advantage, the SMEs have to produce high quality products or services. It can be a main prerequisite of competitiveness for entering global market. Nowadays, Indonesia has more than fifty million SMEs in various area, included for batik which is being famous Indonesia products in world wide. Tight competitiveness among huge multinational industries motivates SMEs to have to be always innovative and creative in producing high quality products. Because of this, SMEs always have to improve their products quality. Quality improvement is very important effort to do for the SMEs especially batik products regarding they have not had some standard for products quality until now. By applying QFD model, it is very expected to help them improve their product quality as a whole. This model also helps SMEs in determining the characteristics of quality and being a reference for management to assure the quality optimally. Then, SMEs are expected to be more capable to deploy their "voice of customer" into house of quality matrices (Coppola, 2000).

2. LITERATURE REVIEW

   2.1. Quality

   There are several definition of quality or quality dimensions. One of the most respected collections of quality dimensions was compiled by David Garvin of the Harvard Business School. Garvin found that most definition of quality were either transcendent, product based, user-based, manufacturing based or value-based (Foster, 2004: 5). Quality is divided into two parts which are product quality and service quality. Qualified products are product capabilities to fulfill or exceed consumer expectations towards the products. In theory of product quality, Garvin deployed them into eight dimensions, as follows:

   * Performance refers the efficiency with which a product achieves its intended purpose. In general, better performance is synonymous with better quality.

   * Aesthetics are subjective sensory characteristics such as taste, feel, sound, look, and smell.

   * Serviceability is the ease of repair for a product. A product is very serviceable if it can be repaired easily and cheaply.

   * Features are attributes of a product that supplement the product's basic performance.

   * Reliability refers to the propensity for a product to perform consistently over its useful design life.

   * Durability is the degree to which a product tolerates stress or trauma without failing.

   * Conformance is perhaps the most traditional definition of quality. When a product is designed, certain numeric dimensions for the product's performance will be established, such as capacity, speed, size, durability, or the like.

   * Perceived quality is based on customer opinion. Customers imbue products and services with their understanding of their goodness. (Foster, 2004: 5)

   Quality management could be considered to have three main components: quality control, quality assurance and quality improvement. It is focused not only on product quality, but also the means to achieve it. It therefore uses quality assurance and control of processes as well as products to achieve more consistent quality.

   2.2. Quality Improvement

   Firms will seek after and attempt to...