Collaborative Research between

1
Evaluation of the Effect of Vehicle Performance
on Consumer Satisfaction
Collaborative Research between University of
Missouri - Rolla and General Motors Corporation
Researcher Elizabeth Cudney, PhD Candidate
Engineering Management, University of Missouri
Rolla, Expected Graduation May 2006 Master of
Business Administration, University of Hartford,
January 2002 Master of Engineering Mechanical
Engineering, University of Hartford, January
2000 Bachelor of Science Industrial
Engineering, North Carolina State University,
December 1996 Dr.
Kenneth M. Ragsdell (Faculty Advisor)
Objective Develop a methodology that estimates
the relationship between changes in vehicle
performance characteristics at any level of the
vehicle and customer satisfaction.

• Mahalanobis Taguchi System
• MD is a discriminant analysis tool, which we
  propose to use to predict changes in consumer
  satisfaction corresponding to changes in multiple
  engineering characteristics at all levels of a
  hardware set (vehicle design).

Research Methodology
Consumer Satisfaction
Consumer Satisfaction
Tools QFD P-Diagram FAST
Mahalanobis Distance
Connectivity
Consumer Attributes
Consumer Domain
Ride
Handling
Interior Roominess
Braking
Acceleration
Change in Vehicle Performance Attributes
Translation
Customer Satisfaction
Vehicle Performance Measures
where, k total number of variables i
number of variables (i 1, 2, . . ., k) j
number of samples (j 1, 2, . . ., n) Zij
standardized vector of normalized characteristics
of Xij Zij (Xij mi) / si Xij value of the
ith characteristic in the jth observation mi
mean of the ith characteristic si standard
deviation of the ith characteristic
transpose of the vector A-1 inverse of the
correlation matrix
Interior Dimension
Curb-to-Curb Turning Diameter
Smoothness
Braking Distance
0-60 Time
Vehicle Domain
Contribution to the Field of Engineering The
addition of Mahalanobis Distance to the field of
product development.
Parts/ Assemblies
Physical Domain
Attribute Feasibility
Develop attribute targets
Mahalanobis Distance (MD) is a distance measure
that is based on correlations between variables
and the different patterns that can be identified
and analyzed with respect to a reference
population.

• Research Tools/Methodology
• Quality Function Deployment (QFD)
• P-Diagrams
• Functional Analysis System Technique (FAST)
• Mahalanobis-Taguchi System (MTS)
• Axiomatic Design

Consumer Change
Functional Path/ Part Changes
Process Domain
Process capabilities
Cost Impact
Calculate Mahalanobis Distance for Normal and
Test Groups
Calculate S/N Ratio for Each Factor to Determine
Significance
Select Normal Group
I would like to thank General Motors Corporation,
Dr. Kioumars Paryani, and Dr. Ragsdell for this
opportunity.