A New Model of Pro-Quality Decision Making in Terms of Products’ Improvement Considering Customer Requirements

Abstract

The idea of sustainable development enforces the pro-environmental design and production of products. It also refers to products producing green energy. The current situation in the world, mainly in Europe, further intensifies these works. The new products occurring in this dynamic market are rarely known by customers. In such a case, they have the problem of proper selection based on their own needs. Hence, the purpose is to develop a method to support the customers during their choice of product. In this methodical study, the qualitative and environmental criteria and also price of purchase were simultaneously included. This method was developed using integrated selected techniques, e.g., brainstorming (BM), the SMARTER method, rule 7 ± 2, questionnaire with Likert scale, AHP method, PROMETHEE II method, and matrix data analysis. The results from the test of method allowed the development this method for possible selection of a product according to individual customer expectations but also supported by the knowledge and experience of experts. The method is dedicated to customers but also enterprises aspiring to simultaneously develop their own products. The originality of this work is the integration of the main criteria for the selection of the product by the customer, i.e., quality, impact on natural environment, and price. The novelty of the study is the ranking of selecting products by considering qualitative and environmental criteria, limiting the customer’s necessary knowledge about the analyzed products to determine the weights of criteria, and visualization of the qualitative–environmental relationship. The model test was carried out for popular solar collectors.