Christopher (1992) gives a method of rating customer service, and this is illustrated in Table 7.1.

In the example in Table 7.1, the key criteria has been established as order fill and has been given a rating of 45/100; on-time delivery is the next most important, and other important criteria (but of lesser rating) are invoice accuracy and the number of returns (returns represent faulty goods). Column b shows that 70 per cent of orders are filled, 80 per cent of orders are sent on time, the accounts department are 90 per cent accurate, and 5 per cent of goods are faulty. Christopher's composite customer service rating is calculated against internally set standards of service, and is calculated on internally gathered data, rather than on feedback from customers. With FIT SIGMA, our approach would be to ask the customers what they rate as most important and then set up a project team to establish how we could achieve 100 per cent for that particular criterion.

If we established from customers that order fill was indeed the most important, and the customers rated this at 45/100 in importance, we would now aim...