Translating company internal data into customer needs: A text mining analysis approach

Efficient product design process is crucial for enterprises willing to introduce new products or develop their existing products pursuing a short time to market. However, successful product design depends on the ability to effectively manage customer needs throughout the entire product development process. This study developed a voice of customer (VOC) program to help enterprises to identify customer needs. Accordingly, a text mining approach is proposed, which translates internal company data into customer needs automatically. Finally, an illustrative example is shown to clarify how this program can be applied by product designers in QFD.