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Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL) A Team Approach to understand Customer Needs Getting to know what the customer wants is not always easy, nor do many Organizations know how to get this information. Breaking away from old procedures and systems and creating an interdisciplinary team within the Organization can offer sometimes invaluable help. Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL) a leading Public Sector Undertaking was to manufacture Outstation Broadcasting (OB) Vans during the Eighth Five Year Plan period. It had already manufactured eight such Vans in the past and the Chief Engineer approved the design for manufacturing. However, the Project Chief wanted to know whether the OB Vans required any further improvement. Contrary to the contemporary wisdom prevailing at that time, the Project Chief insisted that the Research & Development (R&D) personnel should be involved along with Marketing in this exercise of getting to know what the customer wanted. The unorthodox suggestion paid major dividends. Typical problems encountered by Users came to light such as the prospect of hitting ones head on the Van roof while negotiating rough terrain, two springs breaking down almost every time when the Vans returned from a trip to villages to name just a few. Despite their initial reluctance, the satisfaction level of the R&D team was worth more than the effort in spending time with the Users. The net Result about 100 changes / modifications were carried out in the design nearly half of them at no significant cost. It also brought into focus the fact that many times it is not possible for marketing personnel alone to appreciate, understand and articulate customer requirements and calls for a Cross Functional team effort. Questions: a. Describe in brief the various phases involved in a new product development process. b. What do you understand by Quality Function Deployment (QFD)? What are the steps taken by BEL to ensure Customer satisfaction through QFD?