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Abstract
QFD (acronym for Quality Function Deployment) is a flexible method of decision-making, is used in the development of products or services. According to the creators, QFD can help organizations to focus on the most important characteristics of new or existing products or services from the point of view of an individual customer, market segment, company or technology development. Results of applying the techniques are clear diagrams and matrices that can be reused for future goods or services.
QFD Tools and Customer’s Role
QFD transforms customer needs (voice of the customer) into engineering characteristics of products, setting priorities for each product / service and at the same time defines the tasks of development of products or services.
The basis of QFD - building shaped matrix, named according to their form of "House of Quality" (The example of House of Quality is attached below this essay) in which information is recorded on the quality of the product and the decisions made.
The central part of the house is a table whose columns correspond to the specifications and consumer lines. In cells, notes the level of dependence, if it exists. The roof of the house represents information about the correlation between technical characteristics.
Left wing is a column of priorities of user’s characteristics. Right wing is a league table of consumer characteristics (in terms of user perception) on the market for such products.
Basement of the house contains the results of the analysis of the technical characteristics of competing products, the results of development of strategies to change the technical characteristics of the product (the planned figures for the initial development), estimates of the absolute and relative importance.
QFD prerequisites include market research, determine what the user wants, how important are certain qualities, as well as how to solve such problems other providers. Every product, including its current, our competitors, and your perspective on each request is assigned a rating. The rating for long-term product is selected from the following considerations.
- If the requirement is a high priority, and in the current product it is lower than in competing, you need to set a goal to achieve, the level of market-leading products.
- If the requirement is a high priority and the current product market leader in this regard, then, at least, maintain the level.
- If the requirement is a low priority may maintain or even reduce the current level.
After defining a set of specifications, filled the central part of the house - are determined by the relationship between the consumer and technical characteristics. In the next step the level of implementation of competing products is being analyzed. After the analysis of the cross-correlation of technical characteristics on the basis of the information received, formulate the generated targets for the developed product.
Finally, to compare the significance of the technical characteristics, the overall significance is formed as the amount to which each non-blank cell in the column of the matrix is mapped dependencies work priorities of the user depending on the level of the indicator .
QFD allows a compact form to submit data on various characteristics of the product, as well as track their influence over the technical solutions. Unfolded, the QFD consists of four phases, and each of them built his house of quality. After conversion to the technical characteristics of the consumer, the latter converted to the characteristics of the components, and further, in the characteristics of the processes, and then to control product characteristics.
Sources
John R. Hauser, Don Clausing (1988), “House of Quality”, Harvard Business Review Article, 11 pages. May 1, 1988.
Joseph P. Ficalora, Lou Cohen. (2009). Quality Function Deployment & Six Sigma. 2nd Ed. Prentice Hall PTR, ISBN 0-13-513835-3.- Joe Ficalora & Associates
Börjesson, Fredrik; Jiran, Scott. "The Generation of Modular Product Architecture Deploys a Pragmatic Version of Quality Function Deployment". Retrieved 2 November 2012.
