Quality assessment
It has been shown that there are many different dimensions to product quality that need to be considered. How they are perceived is affected by whether they fulfil basic requirements or designed to meet customer needs. To achieve both of these aspects craftsmanship should be considered both in design and manufacturing.
Assessment of craftsmanship presents many difficulties for firms, due its many subjective elements, which cannot be easily measured by traditional quality techniques. Therefore technique needs to be developed that evaluates the product in the same context of the customer. For example, when describing the tactile feel of a door handle, terms such as "too cold", "smooth" or "sharp" express how well crafted the component is perceived by the customer.
Final Vehicle Product Audit (FVPA)
In the automotive industry one such measurement system that uses this technique is FVPA. This audit can be utilised throughout the lifetime of the vehicle model from identifying concept risks early on in product development, through to highlighting product concerns and potential areas of customer dissatisfaction on the physical product from prototype production until the end of the product lifecycle.
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