Identification Of Customer Purchasing Requirement On Auto-parts: Kano Model And Kansei Engineering Integration

Customer satisfaction characterizes the importance of customer behavior towards a product and also significantly perceived in different dimensions.Customer’s behavior towards a product is significant to many industries.Regardless of the provisions set forth to ensure consumerism and customer satisfaction,even industries that usually supply valuable products are unlikely to satisfy customer needs.However,the key issues mostly encountered by the automotive businesses is the provision of quality and satisfactory automotive parts.The awareness growth of its impact has triggered drivers to place various emotional attachments during purchasing.Automotive parts are the best alternative for replacement during breakdown of vehicle,thus drivers place much importance on auto-parts quality.The main areas of the research are the Aftermarket and the Original Equipment Manufacturer parts.The research outcome is used to familiarize the OEM and the Aftermarket parts requirements.Hence,this research determines to study the purchasing decisions on the vehicle drivers on auto-parts in Ghana and China.More importantly,various literatures are reviewed to organize the Kansei words for the research.The voice of customers is employed to gain better understanding on the specific purchasing requirements among the respondents.By using the investigation method,questionnaires were designed and distributed to the independent drivers,company drivers and to those who have prior knowledge and experience in cars especially automotive parts.The participants were asked about their preferences during purchasing process.Through a stratified sampling,220 questionnaires were distributed to the vehicle drivers in Ghana and China.Of 220 questionnaires,197 were completed and valid.The analysis then focused on the overall sample population and country-specific.KMO and Bartlett test was deployed to assess the reliability of the data.The Kano model and Kansei engineering approach were used as innovative tools to validate the characteristics of the products purchased by customers.In this study,Kano Model was used to evaluate customer satisfaction and Kansei engineering to check consumer requirements for automotive components.The study examined the customer’s perception on the importance of the automotive components and provided the final solution to the KE and KM methods.The KE were analyzed with the Principal Components and Regression Analysis whiles the KM,the requirements were classified using the frequency analysis and Customer Satisfaction Coefficient to measure the satisfaction level.The attributes used for the satisfaction measurements were one-dimension,must-be,attractive,Indifferent and Inverse.The results illustrated that the most requirements favored by customers are the One-dimension,Must-be and Attractive whiles the Indifferent and Reverse achieved none in the list of requirements.However,most of the OEM requirements assigned to the One-dimensional elements were brand,expensive,warranty,choose,and cost effective whereas safe,brand,warranty,quality and original in the Aftermarket requirements for Must-be elements.However,customers are attracted to OEM requirements on compatibility,safe,quality and original whereas the One-dimensional for Aftermarket are cheap,compatibility,expensive,choose and cost-effective.The study examined the drivers purchasing requirements on compatibility,Quality,Safe,Branded,Warranty,Choose,Expensive,Cost effective Cheap and Original.Based on the results given,the hypothesis supported OEM factors such on expensive,warranty,branded,quality,choose and original whereas with the AF expensive,choose and cost effective were supported in Ghana and China.It was observed that the vehicle drivers are more satisfied with cost effective and quality and less satisfied with cheap and compatibility as an OEM purchasing requirement whiles,a high dissatisfaction on ‘warranty and choose’ and low dissatisfaction on choose from varieties of auto-parts for OEM auto parts.On the other hand,drivers showed high satisfaction on ‘cheap’ and low satisfaction on brand and warranty as an AF requirement whiles high dissatisfaction on warranty and choose from many auto-parts and less dissatisfaction on expensive,compatible and safe for AF auto parts.According to the analysis,majority of the drivers have less usage on the OEM autoparts but higher perception on its quality functions.Generally,few vehicles drivers suggested that the main reason why the AF is often purchased is due to the’ unavailability’of the OEM parts though majority consider the AF as cheap and reliable.Per the responses,it was seen that majority of the drivers,preferred both the OEM and the AF.The research outcome is significant to manufacturers and other industries to be able to make decisions and provide solutions to customer needs through product innovation.This research aims to help manufacturing sectors to understand customers need through Kano model and KE analysis since customer satisfaction is an indispensable technique for Automotive Industrial growth and other related industries as well.The TRIZ method is proposed to solve contradictions among the purchasing requirements with the KM and KE results to enhance high purchasing.According to the results,it was estimated that the TRIZ is important in minimizing customers disinterest and boost satisfaction.This approach was employed to solve the contradictions of customer needs with a defined solution.Additionally,it was projected that there should be frequent communication between manufacturers,suppliers and customers and importantly suppliers should be receptive to customers instantaneous responses and provide satisfactory auto parts at the appropriate time with the right capacity.Manufactures should provide the required auto-parts based on customer requirement and this can be done effectively if the supplier implement the use of feedback system.Thus,this research propounds that high purchase can be achieved through effective communication channel;the customer-supplier-manufacturer and it is important that such medium would be implemented to improve product in the course of customer needs.Moreover,both the Aftermarket and OEM suppliers are to make provisions on multifunctional auto-parts that can achieve optimal results.