QUALITY FUNCTION DEVELOPMENT

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 To design a product well, a design teams needs to know what it is they are designing, and what the end-users will expect from it. Quality Function Deployment is a systematic approach to design based on a close awareness of customer desires, coupled with the integration of corporate functional groups. It consists in translating customer desires (for example, the ease of writing for a pen) into design characteristics (pen ink viscosity, pressure on ball-point) for each stage of the product development (Rosenthal,1992).

Ultimately the goal of QFD is to translate often subjective quality criteria into objective ones that can be quantified and measured and which can then be used to design and manufacture the product. It is a complimentary method for determining how and where priorities are to be assigned in product development. The intent is to employ objective procedures in increasing detail throughout the development of the product.(Reilly, 1999)

Quality Function Deployment was developed by Yoji Akao in Japan in 1966. By 1972 the power of the approach had been well demonstrated at the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Kobe Shipyard (Sullivan, 1986) and in 1978 the first book on the subject was published in Japanese and then later translated into English in 1994 (Mizuno and Akao, 1994).

In Akao’s words, QFD “is a method for developing a design quality aimed at satisfying the consumer and then translating the consumer’s demand into design targets and major quality assurance points to be used throughout the production phase. … [QFD] is a way to assure the design quality while the product is still in the design stage.” As a very important side benefit he points out that, when appropriately applied, QFD has demonstrated the reduction of development time by one-half to one-third. (Akao, 1990)

The 3 main goals in implementing QFD are:

1. Prioritize spoken and unspoken customer wants and needs.

2. Translate these needs into technical characteristics and specifications.

3. Build and deliver a quality product or service by focusing everybody toward customer satisfaction.

Since its introduction, Quality Function Deployment has helped to transform the way many companies:

• Plan new products

• Design product requirements

• Determine process characteristics

• Control the manufacturing process

• Document already existing product specifications

QFD uses some principles from Concurrent Engineering in that cross-functional teams are involved in all phases of product development. Each of the four phases in a QFD process uses a matrix to translate customer requirements from initial planning stages through production control (Becker Associates Inc, 2000).

Each phase, or matrix, represents a more specific aspect of the product’s requirements. Relationships between elements are evaluated for each phase. Only the most important aspects from each phase are deployed into the next matrix.

Phase 1, Product Planning:

Building the House of Quality. Led by the marketing department, Phase 1, or product planning, is also called The House of Quality. Many organizations only get through this phase of a QFD process. Phase 1 documents customer requirements, warranty data, competitive opportunities, product measurements, competing product measures, and the technical ability of the organization to meet each customer requirement. Getting good data from the customer in Phase 1 is critical to the success of the entire QFD process.

Phase 2, Product Design:

This phase 2 is led by the engineering department. Product design requires creativity and innovative team ideas. Product concepts are created during this phase and part specifications are documented. Parts that are determined to be most important to meeting customer needs are then deployed into process planning, or Phase 3.

Phase 3, Process Planning:

Process planning comes next and is led by manufacturing engineering. During process planning, manufacturing processes are flowcharted and process parameters (or target values) are documented.

Phase 4, Process Control:

 And finally, in production planning, performance indicators are created to monitor the production process, maintenance schedules, and skills training for operators. Also, in this phase decisions are made as to which process poses the most risk and controls are put in place to prevent failures. The quality assurance department in concert with manufacturing leads Phase 4.

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