What is Critical to Quality (CTQ)

Six Sigma Quality Approach (CTQ)

Critical to Quality (CTQ)

CTQs are the factors or parameters that are the major drivers of quality within an organization or process. They are characteristics that can be measured about whether or not the customer is going to be satisfied.

CTQs are closely related to CTCs (critical to customer), but they are not the same thing. Something can be critical to quality without being critical to the customer directly.

For example

If a business wants to launch a mobile app for its customers, then an obvious customer-centric need is that the app works on the customer’s phone. The customer doesn’t care about the process the business needs to go through to launch the app on the platform in question, but the business must meet the criteria for Apple, Android, Windows, or other mobile operating systems. Those requirements become some of the CTQs for the mobile app development, even though certain requirements from the platforms might not appear to be at all related to statements from customers about desires or needs.

Why ldentify CTQs?

In a process improvement environment, CTQs are critical to narrowing work scope and understanding how to enact change. Consider the 80/20 rule, often CTQs are the factors, characteristics, or outputs that drive 80 percent of customer satisfaction. By improving these few critical factors, teams can substantially impact customer satisfaction and the performance of the overall process. Identifying CTQs lets teams create the most improvement possible with the time, money, and people resources available.