Quality Function Deployment

Douglas M. Stewart, Ph.D.

University of New Mexico

Quality Function Deployment (QFD)

A Means of integrating the design process– Voice of the Customer– Priorities of Marketing– Product design knowledge of the Engineer– (Production Planning and Design)

3

House of Quality

Technical requirements

Voice of the customer

Relationship matrix

Technical requirement priorities

Customerrequirement priorities

Competitive evaluation

Interrelationships

4

Quality Function Deployment

technicalrequirements

componentcharacteristics

processoperations quality plan

Building a House of Quality

Gather customer attributes (in the words of the customer)

Group attributes logically Assess relative importance of the attributes

Building a House of Quality (2)

Assess competitive performance on the attributes

Describe product in terms of engineering characteristics

Detail influence of engineering characteristics on customer attributes

Detail interaction between engineering characteristics

Using the House of Quality

Prioritize on attributes that we do poorly on, or where we might increase our lead

Determine what engineering characteristics strongly influence the desired attribute

Check for adverse interactions and weigh tradeoffs Set target levels (not ranges) Link to lower level houses

– Parts characteristics– Key process operations– Production requirements

Problems With QFD

Matrix is too large– Prioritize on important attributes– Analyzes independent subsystems

independently Customer priorities not clear

– Consider segmenting market

Problems With QFD (2)

Customers’ stated preferences and actions differ– Use revealed preference techniques if you

suspect a problem QFD is messy

– Not QFD, but rather the interaction between diverse groups is cause

– Stick with it, the results are worthwhile