Aggregates Manager Digital Magazine
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/85639
OPERATOR FEEDBACK first iteration, a plunger-type piece on the rear window was about 6 inches around and detracted from visibility, Zenter says. He made it clear that it wasn't a desirable feature. "From the original visit to the second visit, it was made smaller," Zenter says. on how a customer answers questions and based on the geographic location where the Chatterbox is taken. Deere says this system is how the company is able to give equipment operators a greater voice within Deere and throughout the industry and often provides provocative answers. (To see a YouTube video of first-time encounters with the Chatterbox, go to http://events.deere.com/youreon/chatter- box/.) Equipment operators are also able to submit comments at any time via the Chatterbox website at http://events.deere. com/youreon/mytake/. A monitoring sys- tem is in place so Deere is able to follow up with equipment operators, with both positive and negative comments, some of which ultimately lead to improvements to the machines. 'They're listening to us' Case Construction Equipment has used its own set of operator "experts" to de- John Deere uses a "Chatterbox" mobile recording studio to collect customer feedback. Participants answer a series of questions and categories for the user feedback change based on how a customer answers question and based on the location where the Chatterbox is taken. velop its Case N Series loader/backhoes. During the 18 months preceding the product line's September 2010 introduc- tion, Case enlisted operators from the United States and Canada to review equipment designs and test pre-produc- tion models of the new loader/backhoes in various applications and climate condi- tions. Dennis Zenter, owner of DRZ Con- tracting Ltd. in Delta, B.C., Canada, was one of six operators from North America asked to help evaluate the Case N Series. In the original prototype design, Zenter says his comments and those of the other evaluators were taken to heart. In the There is now a latch there, similar to a pocket and stud, which solved the prob- lem. "I thought, 'Great! They are actually listening to us!'" As an owner and operator, Zenter says he is pleased that Case called operators in for the design critique: "Usually, a manu- facturer builds the machine, puts it out in the marketplace, and says, 'What do you think?' We don't get to have input. To be included in the process was top-notch. We suggested changes, and [Case] did its best to accommodate them." Zenter and other evaluators also reiter- ated the importance of operator comfort AGGREGATES MANAGER March 2012 21