Bedding products: systematization of the properties indicators according to the Kano Model

Abstract

Background. Quality and safety management of textile products at all stages of the life cycle (design, production, turnover, use) is becoming particularly relevant today and causes manufacturing and trading enterprises to constantly increase of customer satisfaction. International standards declare requirements for indicators and characteristics of the quality of goods, since it is their implementation that ensures the proper quality and safety of products and customer satisfaction. These standards provide, but do not indicate the ways and methods of forming a range of product quality indicators.
Knowledge of the nomenclature of goods consumer properties, in particular bedding products with volumetric fillers, is necessary for managing quality in production by managing factors that affect the properties of products.
The aim of the article is the development of a scientifically based nomenclature of indicators and characteristics of consumer properties of bedding products (BP) with volumetric fillers (blankets, pillows, mattress covers).
Materials and methods. The methods of scientific knowledge, analysis and synthesis, comparison and generalization, induction, deduction and systematization are applied. For the formation of a range of indicators and characteristics of bedding products with volumetric fillers, a theory of attractive quality was used – the Kano model, according to which customer satisfaction is assessed using three groups of properties, indicators and relevant characteristics – mandatory (or required), expected and attractive.
Results. Firstly, a list of properties, their quantitative indicators and characteristicsdepending on the functional purpose is determined to compile a scientifically sound nomenclature of quality indicators for bedding products with volumetric fillers. For each quantitative indicator or quantitative characteristic of a particular property, the unit of measurement and its dimension are determined.
Classification of consumer properties of BP with volumetric fillers has been developed, for which a certain taxonomic series has been applied: class, subclass, group and subgroup. According to the Kano Model, consumer properties are grouped into three classes: mandatory, expected and attractive. Depending on the usefulness and value for consumers, property classes are divided into two subclasses: utilitarian and aesthetic.
Mandatory properties are characterized through safety indicators, for example, the content of harmful substances (formaldehyde, heavy metals, etc.), and the characteristic of this indicator is the amount of the corresponding substance.
Reliability properties are classified as expected (subgroup of resistance to general destruction of a cover of the BP with volumetric fillers), where the breaking strength is its indicator, and the breaking load and elongation at break are its characteristics, etc.
Attractive properties include biological safety and odor perception.
The indicators and characteristics of consumer properties of BP with volumetric fillers presented in the article can be used to form a nomenclature of quality indicators for BP evaluation at different stages of production.
Conclusion. The scientifically substantiated classification of consumer properties of bedding products with volumetric fillers has been developed, which is based on the adequacy of certain properties to specific requirements of consumers, will contribute to improving of existing systems for assessing the quality of textile materials, their conformity assessment and determining the competitiveness of products in domestic and foreign markets.