A Review Of Lawn Blowers And Customer Satisfaction

Introduction: Brief Review

A simple gardening tool usually utilised during autumn is the lawn blower. It is more commonly known as sweeper. This is used during autumn as the backyard is covered with dry leaves which come from trees which is a common phenomenon during this season. There is an easy to understand technique behind the operation of this machine. It nozzles out air pressure through its mouth to transfer the debris collected. Electric and gasoline powered are the two types of sweepers commonly used. Earlier run on two stoke engines, the four stroke engine was introduced later. These were carried on a person’s back similar to a backpack or held in one’s hands. They need to be pushed by the hand to be operated and are therefore referred to as “walk behind leaf blowers”.

Dom Quinto invented the machine in around 1950s. America was the first country in which it was introduced. Despite the fact that it was later used as a blower, it was basically designed to be a Chemical Spraying Machine. This was seen as an opportunity by the manufacturers to bring innovation in the existing market. Gradually the helpfulness of the tool was responsible for it becoming famous and important in the field of gardening.

Young scientists being attracted towards the invention desired to create something new with its help. Utilizing the propelling power of blowers a hovercraft was made. The speed of 140-270 miles per hour was produced and the air volume as 14metre cube. It was then understood that the tool was important in experiments as well.

Toro’s cordless range of the tool is a mixture of hard plastic as well as a certain amount of metal. The engine utilizes 20V of Lithium Battery. The 115 MPH maximum air speed is the best in its class. It provides 146 CFM maximum volume of air. The model also provides double  speed air flow in order to manage the amount of pressure required based on the work. The handle has a soft and comfortable grip ideal for a day long work. There is a 2A current for the running of the battery which is utilised for battery charging helping it work all day (Delulio 2014). The recharge time of the battery is only 75 minutes. The machine is extremely user friendly and light. The tool possesses the best motor in order to give the best amount of efficiency. Little children can also use it easily.

The 20 V cordless sweeper of Toro is the best choice as it allows the concentration of more amount of air in the exact region where it is required. The reviews on the product in all the available sites are good and the functioning and the reliability of the product is also noteworthy. The air flow services are also the best in class. Immense thought, time and effort has gone into making the product successful. This is because the brand is extremely trusted by the company. Apart from the best in class electric motor the product also involves a strong rotor which pumps a mass gust of air in order to blow off anyone. The lawn blower is easy to use and being light can be carried from one corner to another without any hassle. All in all the Toro 20V cordless sweeper is perfect for anyone from the economic aspect as well as it starts from a very low price of $99.99. It also comes with a warranty of 1 year. Everyone should buy it without any sort of delay.

Toro 20V Cordless Sweeper: The Best Choice

In any sort of business be it simple or complex, be it a simple nut bolt business or a high end company related to supercharger production, quality is very essential as it decides the satisfaction of the customer.

• Stakeholders Analysis and Chart

Stakeholder	Expectations
Toro Execution Department	·         Profit earned on the investment done on research work ·         Share investment Profit
Engineers	·         Technological development ·         High investment for improvement
Shareholders	·         Profit on investment ·         New innovation in technology
Employees	·         Safe working environment ·         Increase demand of product to avail employment status
End User	·         Reliable and tough product ·         Good value for money
Suppliers	·         Increase in demand to promote his/her business ·         Higher profit to business
Retailer	·         Predictable and reliable products ·         On-time delivery of product
Rivals	·         Decrease in value of every product ·         Old tech to lower the preference
Interest Groups (Human, environmental, world care etc.)	·         Improvement of tech to help the nature sustain ·         Use of recyclable products
Government Regulators	·         Adhere to minimum product warranty periods. ·         Adhere to current consumer legislation

The above table provides valuable insight regarding the different stakeholders in the market and the demands of the company as well as its products.

After a product’s launch it is necessary to understand the demand or the expectations of the customers from that particular product. The best option is to the gather the information from the customers. The best method is the Voice of Customer (VoC) Methodology. The feedback team of the company is also provided with a chance to understand the customer’s viewpoints regarding the product. The following methods help in the analysis of the market and the understanding of the customer needs.

• Interviewing the customers
• Questionnaire survey method
• Customer visits
• Advisory boards for customers
• Focus groups
• Complaints of the customers
• Ethnographic methods

These ways are the basic methods by which the customer needs and the requirements can be understood. With the advent of technology, the surveys online as well as the customer feedback help in the improvement of the product.

SWOT analysis is crucial in the reviews of the customers and gathering of the vital information about the product. The company can understand areas in which it has excelled and also those segments where it has fallen short. This helps them improve and also score over their competitors.

The interviewing of the customers is crucial for any company to excel and its extremely effective in garnering their feedback. A panel of experts prepare the questionnaire as it is also a very significant task. These are prepared in such a way that the actual sentiments of the customers and their actual opinions are understood without offending them in any way. There are different variants of the interview procedure being web chatting, face to face interviews and so on. The medium does not change the outcomes or the thought processes of the customers towards the particular product. There might be several ways in which a questionnaire can be framed and several ways in which questions are asked but they should revolve around the topic of customer satisfaction and product feedback. Ideally a questionnaire should start with questions to make the customer at ease and then involve the crucial questions for collection of feedback regarding the interview.

This method helps in the collection of qualitative data for analysis and in certain cases, quantitative data as well. There might be certain situations which might affect the data and also the reports. It should be noted that on occasions when the report is false it might lead to wrong assumptions and analysis and thereby wrong feedback regarding the product of the company.

The questionnaire survey is the cheapest method to get the customer feedback. The customers are provided with a survey form in places like shopping malls, shops, movie theatres etc where customers are present in large numbers. The medium of the survey also changes with the changing times. Online forms are also options which are often undertaken. Customer interviews cannot always be carried out in large scale but survey forms and questionnaires helps to reach out to a wide number of people.

Customer Satisfaction

Customer visits help to be available to the consumers of a particular product and review it. It is also an effective method of acquiring customer needs indirectly. The special reach to the customers provides them with the reliability assurance of the company and also to voice their needs openly. The problem with this practice is that it is time consuming as well as hectic. The choice of the customer invite is also crucial. Usually employees are not provided with the opportunity to conduct such researches. The results are often subjective and untrue.

These groups vary significantly from any sort of interview based survey. These groups consist of 5-8 members and they ultimately assist the company to provide an opinion about the products and services. They obtain the reports from a section of the participants and provide the company with the qualitative data. The participants engage themselves in “open minded questions” which helps relax all burdens. This is different from any sort of formal reports or interviews. Thus the company receives the absolute honest views of the customers ( Dessler 2011).

These methods are the most effective for the capture of customer requirements directly from them. These involve the interview of the customers in a common surrounding and then conducting differing interviews and recording their functions for analysis of the body language and for understanding it more. This is one of the most unfamiliar things for the customers and thus they are unable to act artificially thereby supporting the collection of honest reviews.

• Customer needs analysis (Kano Analysis)

It is possible to capture customer needs by the conduction of a survey questionnaire which flows a 5-step process illustrated below:

Step1: Definition of goals and targets of survey to be conducted

• To provide Toro and its employees the knowledge regarding the basic needs of the customers
• To provide data about areas of dissatisfaction
• To provide the information to research team

Step 2: Development of a Survey plan:

• Publication of survey in Toro’s official homepage for receiving public attraction to the survey
• It is assumed that the minimum required participants are 300. The questionnaire should be such that the review is unbiased.
• Participants will have anonymity but will be provided with blowers for proper analysis

Step 3: Designing and finally testing the questionnaire:

            The customers would require to rate the Toro blower on a suitable scale after its proper analysis.

Attribute	Score (1-5)
·         More Air flow
·         Welding at joints
·         Build quality improvement
·         Ease of use
·         Battery life improvement
·         Switching ease
·         Weight ratio to use of easy
·         Quality factor
·         Power factor
·         Adjustable flow rate
·         Attachments for nozzle
·         Nozzle size increase
·         Motor heating to be solved
·         Power backup at high use
·         Low charging time
·         Easy maintenance service
·         Home to do service kit
·         Stock parts replacement
·         High energy motor
·         Low cost of maintenance
·         Children safety switch
·         Low level cleansing kit
·         Power suction bag
·         Integrated shield for heat
·         More geometric design

The small range assists them to give ratings rationally. 

The score can possibly represent:

No need	Likely to want	Would be better	Needed	Must do
1	2	3	4	5

At first a survey needs to be conducted within the company to ensure the proper functioning and double verification is also done before the participants of the survey receive it.

A predetermined score is also to be kept in mind for further action.

	Musts	Wants	Extras
Score	1500>	999-1499	<999

Step 4: Carrying out the survey

As a part of the survey, questionnaires are provided to the respondents and participants answer the questions and based on it, different fields are also analysed.

Step 5: Analysis of the outcomes

A probable sample is shown below:

Attribute	Cumulative Score	Avg. Score
·         Air flow more	1537	4.1
·         Welding at joints	1439	3.9
·         Build quality improvement	1583	4.2
·         Ease of use	1585	4.2
·         Battery life improvement	1561	4.2
·         Switching ease	1633	4.4
·         Weight ratio to use of easy	1657	4.5
·         Quality factor	1564	4.6
·         Power factor	1534	4.1
·         Adjustable flow rate	1582	4.2
·         Attachments for nozzle	1175	3.2
·         Nozzle size increase	1009	2.7
·         Motor heating to be solved	1085	2.9
·         Power backup at high use	1205	3.0
·         Low charging time	1225	3.3
·         Easy maintenance service	1039	2.8
·         Home to do service kit	1129	2.9
·         Stock parts replacement	1177	3.8
·         High energy motor	1201	3.0
·         Low cost of maintenance	1129	2.9
·         Children safety switch	913	2.4
·         Low level cleansing kit	769	3.1
·         Power suction bag	721	1.9
·         Integrated shield for heat	671	1.8
·         More geometric design	745	2.0

Based on the results, after the collection of the responses by the survey subjects, it is decided by the management team which are the main requirements that the company needs to fulfil.

Translating customer needs into the needs of design

The requirements of the customers are recorded and after proper study conclusions need to be suggested based on the suggested needs. The importance rating scores are determined and it is analysed. The scores help form an idea about the customers also. The scores are multiplied by 2 to calculate them out of 10. The preferences are judged based on the scores. After the relationship value is designated, absolute score is obtained by multiplying both units. 

Capturing the Needs of the Customers

The table below depicts the Failure mode and Effect analysis on the top 5 scores of the design requirements by utilisation of the risk severity and likelihood measures.

Place	Failure	Effect on working	Main reason behind the failure	Risk before improvement	Steps to reduce risk	Risk after improvement
P	S	R	P	S	R
Motor cover	Overheating	Reduces efficiency	Incorrect application of motor in the cover	4	3	12	Ensure size of motor is fitting in the case and proper cooling ventilation	1	5	5
Rotor	Complete dissipation	Rotation failure due to excess load	Machine giving excess power to rotor	3	4	10	Ensure proper rotor is used	1	4	4
Battery	Battery failure	System not working	Battery failed to give energy	4	3	8	Ensure proper battery is used of correct voltage	1	5	5
Nozzle	Blockage	Pressure not released outside	Blockage of substance at nozzle	3	2	6	Use clean nozzles	1	4	4
Grip	Not able to move system	Non-mobility	Loose fixing of grips	3	2	4	Use high standard glue to fix	1	4	4

Stage	Post	Causes
1	Very Marginal	System is able to work- low level of improvement to be done
2	Very little	System is able to work- a bit of improvement is to be done
3	Medium	System is not working properly- require some improvement in system
4	Quite much	System not working- a good level of improvement must be done
5	Most	System not working at all- problem is major- needs expert to be solved

Stage	Descriptor	Probability	Description
1	Unlikely	<0.019	Very likely to happen
2	Possible	0.020-0.049	At some time, probable
3	Likely	0.050-0.499	50-50 chances
4	Probable	0.500-0.999	Less chances to happen
5	Highly Probable	1.000	Least chances to happen

The following are some of the basic parts of the Toro 20V cordless Sweeper that can be obtained from external suppliers.

• Air outlet
• Blower tube
• Ejection mechanism
• Lock off lever
• Boost button
• Air-velocity adjustment knob
• Lithium-Ion Battery
• Rotor
• Motor
• Over mold handle

In case the Lithium Ion Battery is utilised and is to be chosen for the supplier selection criterion, the factors helping in choosing the perfect supplier are as follows:

• Quality material assurance
• Transfer time
• Manufacturing price
• Reputation
• Environmental sustainability
• Location
• Reliability factor
• Capacity of the product
• Facilities of customer services
• Safety measures and records

Despite the fact that the lawn blower is not the most complex machine available still in view of its competitors it is crucial to choose the suppliers wisely. The 3 step evaluations  by Toro are as follows:

• Toro chooses other suppliers products and considers properly the one which is the most efficient. The product is scaled on 1-10. 1 being the least and 10 the most preferred.
• Each supplier is given an overall score of 10 based on their product quality and it is multiplied with the weighted score. The higher the score, the more the satisfaction for Toro.
• The table is shown below to understand the above process better.

Suppliers
Selection	Weighting	Quality Solutions	Aussie Co.	Windy Pvt. Ltd.
Score	Weighted	Score	Weighted	Score	Weighted
Quality Assurance	9	6	54	8	72	9	81
Time to be transferred	8	9	72	7	56	8	64
Price to manufacture	5	7	35	7	35	8	40
Reputation	9	6	54	8	72	2	12
Environmental Sustainability	6	6	36	6	36	5	30
Location	3	4	12	5	15	6	18
Reliability factor	7	8	56	6	42	7	49
Product Capacity	8	8	64	6	48	8	64
Customer Service facility	7	9	63	8	56	6	42
Safety measures and records	6	8	48	8	48	7	42
Total	77	496	69	480	64	460

It is required to choose one supplier after the judgement of weighted score as the company needs to make decisions as to choose which supplier.

The top companies are quality solutions, after which come Aussie co. and Windy Pvt. Ltd. As the scores are near to each other, every criterion is taken to be mutually exclusive and ultimately helps come to the conclusion that Quality solutions is the most eligible as a supplier. The other providers fall back due to some reason and need to improve in the areas they fall short. Quality solutions also need to improve certain areas to excel in the future.

Some of the basic processes for building a blower are important for sweeper production.

• Process of designing: This establishes the designing and looks of the product as it might appeal to the customers.
• Supplier selection: The company has to choose a supplier having cost effective products and provides a safety confirmation as well.
• Inspection of supplied goods: Goods need to be manufactured as per specifications and should not be destroyed in any way.
• Assembling of products from different departments: Arrangements are made for the goods to be supplied to perfect departments and other necessary procedures should also be carried out for the proper assimilation.

For building a case for the motor and rotor includes:

• Raw metal for moulding
• Moulding the moulds
• Perfect sand blasting of case
• Galvanisation
• Painting
• Final inspectional quality before product release

Also the other aspects are

• Assembling the product: Various parts need to be assembled to form a single unit
• Covering and packaging of product: Packing of lawn blower needs to be tight and strong which is quite delicate and needs careful handling.
• Distribution: Involves the wrapping and transportation of the product to be delivered.
• Invoicing of the customer: To ensure the product reaches the customer on time
• Product’s quality check: Process validation of the arrived goods for being buyable by the customers. The numerous small parts need to be checked.
• Advertisement and promotions: The company works to make the market utilise the knowledge of their products. This is necessary for them to buy it and thus advertisement is extremely important.

Statistical charts help in giving as broader view towards the proper functioning of all activities. It helps us understand about different production limits in a quantitative manner. The reliability of production is easily understood with the help of these charts. This helps to assign quality checks at different levels and testing of the build accordingly as these are crucial for the production speed and quality.

The basic components of an SPC chart are:

• Central line: which is the average production done by the company
• Upper and lower control limits which are the two border li8nes for production. In case the production falls outside these values the process in out of control.

The charts can be classified based on the difference in characters like the “name, data and variable data”.

Attribute data are related to the quality factor of the material not shown by arithmetic values. The basic control graphs for the illustration of the data related to attributes are as follows:

• C-chart: This chart is used to plot the number of defects in a particular sample of production. The central line is calculated by the mean of defects at the time of analysis of sample products. This chart gives information regarding the number of defects in comparison to other charts which is thought to be a bonus. The c-chart thus gives a proper image of the scenario and shows 4 defects in a single day.
• The chart is also used to check the proper working of all the steps performed in the manufacture of the product as a process checking tool. In case the company is apprehensive about the use of any policy or remedy it can change it at any given time.

In certain situations varying data are collected keeping in view some quality criteria when the process is being carried out. Temperature, humidity, pressure etc are counted. It is usually numeric and utilised for in depth studies. The charts utilising these variables for showing output are as follows:

• X-bar and R chart: It is a combination of two charts that helps in the broader statistical analysis of the data. The mean chart shows the different values along with the mean and the control limits. While the R chart shows the different values attained in each subgroup and the difference between the maximum and the minimum values. It helps keep the track record of production.
• X-chart: It helps to measure the information of a sample product at any given amount of time. The patterned knowledge is obtained about the daily production.
• P-chart: Used to plot the ratio of defective readings occurring in a particular time period. It only records the number of defective readings as per ratio and not as per quantity.
• NP- chart: This chart is utilised to represent the data in the form of defective pieces produced in one day term and check the production pattern. The UCL LCL as well ass the central line remains fixed for each subgroup in the graph. It helps to keep track of the number of defective pieces connected to the LCL and UCL in order to check the stability.

The SPC chart for the fixed sample products needs to be found with increase in number of defective batteries. Toro uses p-charts for running SPC programs.

The outcomes for 15 days of production have been represented in the table below.

		x	n	P	?	UCL	LCL
Week No. 1	1	18	94	0.2000	0.1950	0.3200	0.0700
2	17	95	0.1790	0.1950	0.3170	0.0730
3	17	91	0.1790	0.1950	0.3170	0.0730
4	17	93	0.1830	0.1950	0.3180	0.0720
Week No. 2	5	19	91	0.2090	0.1950	0.3200	0.0700
6	18	92	0.1960	0.1950	0.3190	0.0710
7	22	90	0.2440	0.1950	0.3200	0.0700
8	17	92	0.1850	0.1950	0.3190	0.0710
9	19	90	0.2110	0.1950	0.3200	0.0700
10	17	91	0.1870	0.1950	0.3200	0.0700
Week No. 3	11	17	93	0.1830	0.1950	0.3180	0.0720
12	17	93	0.1830	0.1950	0.3180	0.0720
13	18	91	0.1980	0.1950	0.3200	0.0700
14	20	95	0.2110	0.1950	0.3170	0.0730
15	19	95	0.2000	0.1950	0.3170	0.0730
?p	2.9260

The chart above is a P-chart and it shows that the battery production is just like the company wishes for. The production is thought to fulfil the demands as the mean value of the production never drops below the line of mean and thus it  can be said that the production is never lacking.

Customer Interviews

The number of defectives always lies between the UCL and LCL stating the accuracy of the production unit. This has one drawback however. It is the fact that the graph does not provide any sort of information about the quantity of the defected pieces. There are other effective tools and methods for the analysis of quantitative aspect of the reports. This procedure is easy but nevertheless difficult to perform.

During the operation on Lithium Ion batteries, there are always certain risks:

• Overheating
• Explosion
• Breakdown
• Meltdown
• Catching fire
• Not turning on the system

Some remedies to solve the problems are:

• Diagram view (Cause and effect)
• Analysing by experts (brainstorming)
• Answering why! (Why-why diagram)
• Focussing more on major problems (Pareto diagram)
• Gantt chart preparation to check flow of process
• Preparing check sheet
• Processing a full working flowchart
• Construction and application of several problem solving remedies

The leading problem to be corrected is overheating. Some of the ways of curing the process are:

• Analysing by experts (brainstorming)
• Answering why! (Why-why diagram)
• Preparing check sheet
• Focussing more on major problems (Pareto diagram)

The remedies and their functional methods are stated:

This is the first remedy referring to the finding out of solutions regarding the question of hour by expert panel. The views and ideas are summed to find a solution.

Problem(s): Overheating

Reason(s):   1. incorrect battery installation

1. Installation of over charged batteries
2. High energy release
3. Excess and prolonged use of machine
4. Fault in batteries provided by suppliers

According to the report there might be many possible reasons not matching with reality but it helps to get to the basic start at the early stage of this problem solving process.

To understand the topic and its problem the question of why it happened needs to be asked. While considering this scenario arrows are found joining the two boxes. The same question is asked to us a number of times. There is a need to find the answer every time the question is asked.

After the proper identification and verification of the root cause and the major problem it is possible to find the reason behind battery overheating of the leaf blower.

The check sheet is drawn by taking into account the data related to problems occurring in a week. Some of the problems have been listed by the Toro 20V Cordless sweeper team which are thought to be the major causes for battery overheating.

The table shows the check sheet for this case:

Root cause	Occurrence	Absolute%	Accumulative%
Not proper installation of battery	25	16.75	16.75
Over charged batteries installed	17	11.39	28.14
High release of energy	15	10.05	38.19
Excess use of machine for prolonged duration	10	6.7	44.89
Total	67	44.89

The reason for the occurrence of any problem needs to be understood first before it is analysed. In Pareto analysis, the focus is given on the probable reasons for the occurrence of the problem. After analysis of all the sectors of concern the solution we arrive at is that 3 sectors are to be taken care of. These three sectors constitute 75% of all the problems and are to be solved first compared to the others.

After identification of the root cause action can be considered the reduction of the occurrence. Further the improvement in the technology or improved experts can assist work on the problems even more significant. Regular researches need to be conducted and checked to maintain the quality of production.

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