Partnership with Customers
Improving Customer Satisfaction
Our customers are either assembly manufacturers who deliver final products to consumers, or are the manufacturers of parts that are required for assembling these final consumer products. In order to satisfy our customers’ demands, we must closely observe consumer and market needs, and always be prepared for the future products and technologies customers may demand.
Our global sales personnel believe we can contribute to customers’ business scenarios by communicating with them directly and therefore enabling us to make suggestions regarding products and technologies from a customer perspective. By realizing this concept, we aim to contribute to society through our customers’ products.
Ways to Improve Customer Satisfaction
A Global Sales & Marketing Conference held at our Furukawa Plant (Miyagi Prefecture)
To anticipate customer needs in technology or certain product areas, Alps Electric’s sales departments create "product roadmaps" of trends and characteristics for each major market and propose research, plans, designs, and development of products to meet market demands. Providing customers with their desired solutions and newly developed products in a timely manner is one of the key roles we have. Additionally, a ”Global Sales & Marketing Conference” is held periodically to develop sales departments’ objectives and policies, confirm their progress, and recognize new challenges. Representatives of each sales base from around the world meet to confirm and review business scenarios and progress for development of products that satisfy customer needs and market demands.
Customer claims and product analysis requests are also logged into the GQIS (Global Quality Information System). The GQIS is an intranet system for monitoring customer claim responses from corresponding manufacturing departments, and customer satisfaction ratings on a global basis.
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Operation of the Global Quality Information System (GQIS)
At Alps Electric, we consider investigation requests and complaints from our customers as invaluable information to enable products that can be used with greater peace of mind. We have configured a uniform management system called “GQIS” to manage these requests.
When requests for investigation and complaints are received, they are entered into the GQIS by sales personnel, and then shared with domestic and overseas production bases to respond accordingly. The information entered can be examined closely by managers and relevant personnel at any time in order to monitor the progress of a prompt response. We also utilize the information for future sales promotion and quality improvements by analyzing trends in the information.
Employee Training to Heighten Customer Satisfaction
"Sales University"
In our own "Sales University" program, experienced employees give lectures on various sales-related subjects such as the latest product information, technology, metal molding, quality, overseas trading, and environmental measures. Personnel from sales branches and offices also join the lectures through our teleconferencing system.
Our sales departments host training and education programs for sales personnel, giving them the skills and ability to accurately meet customer needs.
In order to advance them to the sales front lines as quickly as possible, well-experienced employees provide new recruits with individual training that focuses on fundamentals. "Sales University", where experienced employees provide lectures, is held regularly to increase their knowledge base in a wide range of fields such as product information, market trends, overseas trade management, chemical substance regulations and supply chains. We also host educational and practical training programs on subjects such as procured parts, metal molds and quality function deployment (QFD) for better understanding of the structure of each product.
Furthermore, young to mid-level personnel are rotated through technical, production planning, and purchasing departments in order to nurture a wide range of experience and knowledge.
