Quality Function Deployment

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Quality Function Deployment

• Douglas M. Stewart, Ph.D.
• University of New Mexico

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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)

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House of Quality
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Quality Function Deployment
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Building a House of Quality

• Gather customer attributes (in the words of the
  customer)
• Group attributes logically
• Assess relative importance of the attributes

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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

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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

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Problems With QFD

• Matrix is too large
• Prioritize on important attributes
• Analyzes independent subsystems independently
• Customer priorities not clear
• Consider segmenting market

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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