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September 14, 2007
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David Withers, the managing director of Ransomes Jacobsen, explains the HR 3300T rotary mower at the IOG Saltex 2007 Show in Windsor, UK. The new mower, which was unveiled at the show and designed using Voice of the Customer research, was well-received by attendees.
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When Ransomes Jacobsen Ltd. set out to build a better rotary mower, it began with the question: What exactly is a better rotary mower?
To find out the answer, the Ipswich, UK-based Ransomes Jacobsen project team went directly to those who they knew would have the answers – their customers.
They had a lot to say. In fact, the input from end-user customers was instrumental in driving the design of Ransomes’ newest rotary mower, the HR 3300T. The mower is intended for many types of European grass areas, including parks and gardens.
The Ransomes project team incorporated Voice of the Customer research to measure the feedback from customers and build a statistical profile of what really mattered to them. Voice of the Customer is a critical element in Textron Design for Six Sigma (DFSS), a customer-focused approach to the design of new products that identifies and prioritizes Critical to Satisfaction (CTS) issues of the customers.
“That’s part of what the Six Sigma DFSS process is all about,” says Lynn Kelley, the vice president of Textron Six Sigma. “Taking the time to listen to the customers’ needs upfront and then making sure that their voice is carried all the way through the design process.”
The Ransomes team initiated Voice of the Customer at the beginning of the project. “We started the process in January 2005 by asking customers very basic questions such as, ‘what do you do with a rotary mower?’” says Richard Comely, Ransomes’ project manager. In all, hundreds of customer voices from all over Europe and Scandinavia played a role in developing the new machine using the DFSS process.
Ransomes leveraged visits by turf care professionals to its state-of-the-art factory in Ipswich, one of only two turf maintenance manufacturing facilities in Europe, to find out exactly what they wanted out of a rotary mower.
Every part of the mower was scrutinized by customers – from the joystick that lifts and lowers the mowing deck to the lights and the seat. “From all of this we build up quite a detailed amount of information,” Comely says.
“Surprisingly, customers said that storage was the most important issue to them,” Comely says. “We needed to know, ‘how important? What would you carry? How often would you carry something? Where would be the best place for it?’ You then get to a measured level of detail that you would never get in a focus group.”
The HR 3300T was unveiled at the Institute of Groundsmen Saltex 2007 Show in Windsor, UK in early September to tremendous fanfare. With three hydraulic deck motors, a 60-inch (1.5 meter) deck and a number of new features, the new machine was praised for its design and functionality. The HR 3300T is truly built to order by the customer.
“With the Six Sigma DFSS process, it ensures that the Voice of the Customer is translated into the design elements and, ultimately, into the final product so it is exactly what the customer wanted,” Kelley says.
For turf care professionals, the result is a better rotary mower for the public parks and gardens of Europe. As customers set their eyes upon the HR 3300T mower at local dealerships, the features should be recognizable to them. After all, they are the ones who helped to put it together.
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